A short whistle broke the six-minute silence as Cui Qinglu's clever cross from the right was met by Xu Li's header, which narrowly missed the goal line.
Then, in the 23rd minute, Wu Housheng took a long-range shot from the edge of the penalty area, and Bao Yaxiong reacted quickly to hold the ball tightly.
At the thirty-minute mark, Teixeira's direct ball from a steal saw Malele's one-touch chance go begging for a mistake, which Kim Gengmin was quick to make up.
In the 43rd minute, Malelai inadvertently stepped on an opponent in the heat of the moment and Kuwaiti referee Ahmed Ali decisively showed a yellow card after a VAR replay.
In a tense moment in the 45th+4th minute, Heo Li scored for Gwangju, but Jung Ho Yoon was fouled first, and after Kuwaiti video assistant referee Abdullah Kandari alerted him, referee Ahmed Ali rescinded the goal.
On forty-eight minutes, Andre Luis took a powerful shot from outside the box, but unfortunately the ball scraped off the line just a bit.
In the sixty-fifth minute, Gao Tianyi drove a precise set-piece to the penalty area, Wu Xi's header nearly won the game, and Kim Gengmin nearly gave away a gift when he made a mistake in receiving the ball.
By the 88th minute, Shanghai Shenhua missed a good chance to equalize when Xie Pengfei made too many adjustments and Manafa's shot was blocked.
Technical stats and player ratings intertwined with tactical depths as Shanghai Shenhua and Gwangju FC's lineups were like chess pieces on a battlefield, each with their own mindset.
Shanghai Shenhua formed a 4-3-1-2, with goalkeeper Bao Yaxiong keeping the goal intact, and a staggered stand of defenders, midfielders, strikers and forwards.
Gwangju FC, on the other hand, has adopted a 4-4-2 formation with Kim Geng-min in goal and defenders, midfielders, and strikers each playing their own roles in an effort to maximize their effectiveness in both offense and defense.
