Round Two of the 2024 Chinese Super League season has officially concluded, with some interesting results seen across the league.
While very few major shocks were seen in week two of the 2024 campaign, bar one, some matches had lower scores than previously anticipated and some of the results have allowed the league to remain close in the opening stages.
With all 16 teams once again contesting fixtures this week, we take a look at all the action from around the Chinese Super League this past week.
Qingdao Hainiu 0-1 Changchun Yatai
After opening the 2024 season with a disappointing 4-2 loss to Shandong Taishan in Week One, it was important for Changchun Yatai to pick up points early against teams they could be competing with for places around mid-table this year.
Chen Yang’s side did just that with a close-fought 1-0 victory on the road to Qingdao Hainiu, who have now lost their opening two fixtures of the new season and are beginning to look like early favourites to suffer the disappointment of relegation should results not turnaround soon.
Recent off-season signing, Brazilian forward Guilherme netted his first goal for the Northeastern club just after the hour mark.
Partnering Robert Beric up front once again, Guilherme will be looking to add to his previous goal tally in Chinese football and is already showing good chemistry with his new team, latching onto a loose ball right at the goal mouth to give his side their first three points of the new season.
Shanghai Shenhua 2-0 Qingdao West Coast
Shanghai Shenhua continued their perfect start to the 2024 season with yet another victory, this time coming in a comfortable 2-0 defeat of Chinese Super League newbies Qingdao West Coast.
Shenhua claimed the Chinese Super Cup before opening their league campaign with a 2-0 win over Meizhou Hakka, following that up with yet another clean sheet en route to another three points for new head coach Leonid Slutsky.
Cephas Malele opened the scoring just 22 minutes into the match before Andre Luis netted his third goal in just two league matches in the 37th minute – ensuring their side went into the half time break with a comfortable lead to hold onto.
Malele and Luis are the only Shenhua players to find the net so far this season, with the former netting the winner against city rivals Shanghai Port in the Super Cup, while the latter has taken an early lead for top goal scorer in the league after scoring both of his side’s goals against Meizhou the week before.
Shenhua now sit atop the Chinese Super League standings and will be keen to keep this momentum going through the early stages of the campaign, with a genuine view to claiming more silverware after last season’s Chinese FA Cup success.
Henan 2-2 Meizhou Hakka
A battle between two mid table favourites played out almost exactly as you would expect as nothing could separate Henan and Meizhou Hakka in their first meeting of the 2024 season.
Finishing last season in 10th and 11th place, both sides will be keen to climb further up through the standings this time around, but a 2-2 draw gave both sides a point – Meizhou’s first and Henan’s second after their respective loss and draw on the opening day of the season.
Henan got off to a perfect start when Bruno Nazario hit the back of the net just six minutes into the match, picking up where he left off with his goal against Qingdao West Coast last week.
Meizhou were determined not to suffer consecutive defeats, however, and Suriname forward Tyrone Conraad pulled his side level in the 37th minute – with both clubs entering the half-time break tied at one apiece.
It was then Meizhou who took the lead after a promising spell, with Conraad netting once again to secure his brace just shy of the hour mark, giving the visitors hope of an away victory.
However, the lead last less than five minutes as Serbian midfielder Đorđe Denić brought the home side back into it, levelling up the score at 2-2 in the 62nd minute.
Neither side could break the deadlock from there, and they played out an eventful draw that will give fans hope of seeing more goals throughout the season, with a climb up the middle of the table the clear goal for both teams early this season.
Shandong Taishan 0-0 Beijing Guoan
In a surprising turn of events, two sides who will be looking to compete for silverware this season played out a scoreless draw as Shandong Taishan welcomed Bejing Guoan to the Jinan Olympic Sports Center Stadium.
Despite failing to score, the match was not short of opportunities for either side, with Shandong registering 17 shots to Beijing’s 12, with the visitors actually having the better of the chances with four on target compared to the home side’s two.
Beijing controlled the ball, with 56% of possession, while also making almost 100 more passes throughout the match, but none of it paid dividends and both sides ended up with a clean sheet and one point each – both sitting on four points to open the 2024 season, with Shandong in 3rd and Beijing currently 5th after the first two rounds of fixtures.
Zhejiang 0-0 Shanghai Port
In a recurring theme, two teams looking to challenge near the top of the table this season battled for another scoreless draw as Zhejiang FC managed to keep reigning Chinese Super League champions at bay.
The visitors controlled the majority of the fixture and had most of the scoring chances, with 15 shots and six of them being on target, but they were unable to break down the home side’s stout defence, with goalkeeper Zhao Bo picking up a second consecutive clean sheet.
Zhejiang will undoubtedly be relieved to remain unbeaten through the opening two matches of the season, but will be disappointed with their disciplinary record, with Sun Zheng’ao receiving a second yellow card in the sixth minute of added time.
This sending off follows on from Round One of the competition, where Sun Guowen received his marching orders just 19 minutes into Zhejiang’s 1-0 victory over Shenzhen New Peng City.
If the team in green hope to maintain positive results throughout the season, ensuring they finish matches with all 11 men on the pitch will be a top priority for Jordi Vinyals and his coaching staff.
Nantong Zhiyun 1-3 Wuhan Three Towns
While not expected to compete for the league title, which they won in 2022, Wuhan Three Towns will be keen to perform in the upper half of the league, having finished seventh in 2023.
Picking up strong results over teams who are likely to be sitting at the lower end of the table is certainly the right way to do that, which is why their 3-1 victory away to Nantong Zhiyun will delight the fanbase.
It took nearly 40 minutes of play before either side broke the deadlock, with Brazilian striker Pedro Henrique scoring from the penalty spot and sending his side 1-0 up after 37 minutes.
Three Towns entered the break with that fine margin of a lead, but extended it just a few minutes after the restart, with Henrique once again finding the net.
Compatriot Darlan scored his first for the club on the hour mark, giving Three Towns a comfortable 3-0 lead and one that they would not relinquish but for an 83rd minute consolation goal from defender Izuchukwu Anthony.
Cangzhou Mighty Lions 1-0 Chengdu Rongcheng
Easily the biggest shock of Round Two came at Cangzhou Stadium, where Cangzhou Mighty Lions claimed an unlikely 1-0 victory over a team considered to be far stronger on paper, Chengdu Rongcheng.
Fresh off a 2-0 victory on the opening day of the season, Chengdu dominated possession (split 72% to 28%) and had over 328 more passes than the hosts. Despite this, both teams registered the exact same number of total shots, with 11.
However, Chengdu found the target on just one occasion, while Cangzhou were more clinical with their efforts, registering four on target and, of course, finding that all-important goal that made the ultimate difference.
Oscar Maritu finally broke the deadlock in the 83rd minute, giving an early relegation favourite some genuine delight and optimism and three crucial points that could make a real difference at the end of the season.
Shenzhen Peng City 0-4 Tianjin Jinmen Tiger
The final fixture contended in Round Two saw one of the most comfortable victories around the league as Tianjin Jinmen Tiger put three past CSL newbies Shenzhen New Peng City, who joined Qingdao Hainiu as the only two teams to fail to register a single point through the opening two rounds of the competition.
Tianjin took the lead in the fourth minute of the match through Croatian midfielder Ivan Fiolić, and never looked back.
Wang Qiuming, the only Chinese player to score a goal in the entire round, scored just two minutes shy of the hour mark before Andrea Compagno and Alex Grant put the match to bed in the 70th and 90th minute respectively.
It was a strong performance from a team that many believed were finished a couple of seasons ago, and their four points through their first two matches has them tied with five other teams near the top of the table.