Cardoso opened his account with a goal, leading Zhejiang to their first victory over Yingbo.

Written by Zuo Rui. In a breathtaking battle of goals, Zhejiang Club Greentown edged out their opponents 3-2 at home. New recruit Cardoso scored his debut goal for Zhejiang, which ultimately decided the game. With this valuable strike, Zhejiang Greentown secured their first victory over Dalian Yingbo Haifa.

After kickoff, Zhejiang Greentown continued with a three-center-back formation, featuring Lucas, Liu Haofan, and Zhang Aihui, with Sun Guowen and Tong Lei on the flanks. Defensive midfielder Park Jin-seop was flanked by the more attack-minded Tolic and Cheng Jin, while the two forwards were Mitriță and Wang Yudong. The summer transfer window's biggest signing, center-forward Cardoso, remained on the bench as a tactical reserve.

Dalian Yingbo made their CSL debut last season, earning their first league point with a 1-1 draw in Hangzhou. This time, they fielded five foreign starters at Huanglong Stadium, including their playmaker Stanciu, who reunited with his former Romanian national teammate Mitriță in the CSL for the first time. When the two teams last met, Mitriță was under suspension.

Facing an opponent they had lost twice and drawn once in three previous encounters over two seasons, head coach Ross Aloisi stated before the match that preparations for the game against Dalian Yingbo had been very thorough. "We need to bring our preparations into the game, show the best attitude, and approach the match more positively." Judging by the match process, both sides gave their all and fought until the very end.

In the first 20 minutes, the visiting team, who controlled the tempo, completed five shots. After gaining possession, the home team did not rush to attack but patiently passed the ball looking for opportunities. However, whether it was Wang Yudong crossing from the wing to find Mitriță or Mitriță sending long balls behind the defense for Wang Yudong, the connection between the two seemed somewhat one-dimensional and too distant.

It wasn't until before the water break that Zhejiang began to press forward as a unit. But perhaps due to the hot weather, both teams struggled to increase the pace of the game. In the 35th minute, Tolic won Zhejiang's first corner kick, triggering a series of attacks from the right flank. Eventually, Cheng Jin sent a diagonal pass into the box, and Wang Yudong headed home to break the deadlock, making it 1-0.

After turning the tide of passive play, Zhejiang's defense did not show major flaws until halftime. Zhang Aihui's tight marking effectively limited Achimpon's impact. In the 53rd minute, Mitriță dribbled inside, bypassing three defenders to deliver the ball to the edge of the box, where Tolic swept it into the net. 2-0, Zhejiang seemed to be on the verge of victory.

After taking a two-goal lead, the opponent's counterattack came fiercely. In the 55th minute, Marele assisted after shaking off Liu Haofan's defense, and Alimi pulled one back for the visitors. Thereafter, the visitors' attacks intensified. Notably, Stanciu attempted a narrow-angle shot near the byline, and Liu Haofan made a crucial goal-line clearance.

In the 65th minute, the home team made a triple substitution, replacing Tong Lei, Sun Guowen, and Tolic with Cardoso, Tao Qianglong, and Xu Junchi. The formation was also changed to the familiar 4-2-3-1. It seemed Ross intended to use attack as defense to secure the victory in Hangzhou. In the 67th minute, Cardoso's quick stab in the box almost immediately fulfilled Ross's wish.

Before transferring to Zhejiang, the Brazilian striker had not played in matches for about two months. In the first two rounds of the CSL, he came off the bench in the 85th and 75th minutes respectively, without scoring. This time, the head coach gave him more playing time and greater trust.

In the 74th minute, the visitors' Mao Weijie curled a long-range shot into the far corner, leveling the score at 2-2. Just two minutes later, Tao Qianglong provided an assist, and Cardoso fired a low shot into the far corner to open his scoring account. 3-2! The visitors then went all out to salvage the game. As the match neared its end, Ross made further adjustments: Qian Jiegei replaced Wang Yudong in the 88th minute, and Zhang Jiaqi later came on for Mitriță.

In the 96th minute, Cardoso sent a cross-field pass on the counterattack, but Zhang Jiaqi wasted a golden opportunity. In the 98th minute, Liu Haofan appeared to handle the ball in the box during defense. VAR intervened and ruled that the attacker was offside beforehand. The final score remained 3-2.

Cardoso was very happy after the match, saying, "The game was very tight and difficult. In the end, I'm grateful to my teammates for their efforts to finish the game. I hope to continue scoring in the future."

Ross said after the match that he was very pleased, despite the hard-fought victory. "From the start to the end, the opponent's counterattacks were very sharp. We still need to improve our defense specifically and do better on some details of our attacks." Although they missed two or three scoring chances, overall "all the players were very confident and showed high efficiency." Regarding Cardoso's winning goal, he believed it was related to the teammates' "very good understanding" of his positioning.