Special correspondent Ding Xu reports In the 8th round of the Chinese Super League, Dalian Yingbon Field lost 0-2 to Qingdao West Coast. In this defeat, InBev had a good chance to score but was unlucky, Traore's header hit the woodwork, Kalanga's goal was ruled offside, and the team has fully exposed the fatigue after continuous battles. It was this fatigue that led to two mistakes in the second half. After losing to the West Coast, Dalian InBev has not tasted victory away from home for half a year.

Luck is not on InBev's side

With four points from two consecutive home draws with Tianjin Jinmen Tigers and a win over Henan, Dalian InBev has risen from 11th to 9th. Visiting Qingdao in this round, head coach Li Guoxu said before the game: "The recent games have been relatively intensive, this is the sixth game we have played in 22 days, and the team has focused on recovery in the past two days. In this game, Li Guoxu made a minor adjustment in the starting lineup: Mao Weijie, who returned from injury, replaced Cao Haiqing.

"It's a busy schedule right now, and we have to rotate because it's going to be a tough season for every team. We rotate according to the opponent and our own situation. Depending on the strategy of each game, we will maintain our own technical and tactical style. Li Guoxu said.

After the start of the game, the scene was relatively uneventful, and Liu Zhurun, who started two consecutive rounds, was one of the few bright spots, and he repeatedly broke through on the flanks and was quite imaginative with his outside instep crosses. In the 7th minute, Liu Zhurun forced Zhang Chengdong on the left side and crossed into the penalty area, and Kalanga's shot on the left side of the penalty spot was blocked by Zhao Hongluo after stopping the ball.

In the first half, Dalian InBev had a whopping 62.7% possession, with both sides having 2 shots on goal and 0 shots on target. "In terms of controlling the scene in the first half, it all went according to plan." Li Guoxu was satisfied with the team's performance in the first half. In the 53rd minute, Lu Zhuoyi crossed a corner kick from the left, and Traore pressed Zhang Chengdong's header on the right side of the small penalty area line and hit the crossbar. Dalian InBev almost repeated the good performance of the last round of goals, but unfortunately this time the luck was not on their side.

After half-time, the scales began to tilt

In the 57th minute, Qingdao West Coast foreign aid Aziz broke through to the left side of the penalty area with the ball, Mao Weijie put the former down from behind, referee Shan Dan'ao decisively blew a penalty, and Song Yue also received a yellow card for dissatisfaction with the penalty. Two minutes later, Mateus converted the penalty and scored his fourth goal of the season. "My foul affected the direction of the game......" After the game, Mao Weijie blamed himself a little.

The penalty was struck and the scales began to tilt. Dalian InBev replaced Mao Weijie and Liu Zhurun with Zhu Pengyu and Yang Mingrui in the 61st minute. In the 67th minute, Yang Mingrui passed in front of the left side of the penalty area, Kalanga volleyed on the right side of the small penalty area, and the ball hit the lower edge of the crossbar and bounced into the goal, but the first assistant referee Cao Yi raised the flag to signal offside, and the Brazilian center slid to kneel to "protest". After a VAR check, Kalanga was indeed in an offside position before shooting.

In the 75th minute, Alimi grabbed the right side of the field and the ball was broken, Duan Liuyu transferred in the middle of the backfield, Aziz dribbled on the left side and crossed, and Nelson Luz outflanked and pushed to score his second goal in the Chinese Super League this season, extending the score advantage to two goals. 'At half-time I also reminded the players that you can't make mistakes in this kind of game, because in the second half we made two mistakes and the opponent scored two goals. Li Guoxu said.

In the 90th minute, Lu Peng replaced Alimi, who was carrying a yellow card. Alimi had previously played all 630 minutes of matches, as well as representing North Macedonia in two World Preliminary Tournaments during the FIFA match week in March. Li Guoxu's replacement of Alimi is on the one hand to let him rest and adjust, and on the other hand, it may be a "punishment" for his poor performance.

The away team needs to be improved urgently

Mao Weijie, who retired from injury in the first game against Qingdao Manatee, suffered a torn anterior talofibular ligament in his right ankle and injured his calcaneofibular ligament, and his recovery time is expected to be 5 to 6 weeks, but he was already in the 23-man squad for last week's home game against Henan, and he played 61 minutes in the first round of this round. From injury to comeback, Mao Weijie only took 18 days! He regretted the defeat in this game: "There were more chances in this game, and we didn't take advantage of them. ”

After the loss, Dalian InBev returned to 11th place, five points ahead of the relegation zone. "As a young team, losing is a process that must be experienced, so we have to go back and take good pictures and play well." Li Guoxu concluded after the game. Judging from the scene of this game, Dalian InBev players who are not deep enough on the bench are very tired, and the contrast between home and away performance is huge, 7 of their 9 points are won at home, and the home score rate is 77.8%, while only 2 points are scored in 5 away games.

It is worth mentioning that since October 20 last year, the 28th round of the Chinese League 2-1 reversal of Wuxi Wugou, Dalian InBev has not been able to taste the taste of away wins for half a year, during which they have only 2 draws and 4 losses in 1 Chinese League and 5 Chinese Super League aways. Dalian have failed to win away from home in the Chinese Super League for 2,069 days, and the last time Dalian won away from home in the Chinese Super League was back in the 21st round on August 21, 2019, when Dalian defeated Chongqing Sway 3-1 at the Chongqing Olympic Sports Center. In the 29 Chinese Super League games since then, Dalian team has a record of 7 draws and 22 losses. This Saturday (April 26), Dalian InBev will continue its away trip and go south to Shenzhen to challenge Xinpeng City.