SIPG stays top in Suzhou group despite first loss

Ti Gong

Shanghai SIPG maintained its lead in Group B of the 2020 Chinese Super League group-stage competition despite suffering a first defeat of the season.

Vitor Pereira’s team was the only side without a loss in the group after eight rounds before its 0-2 loss to Hebei China Fortune in Suzhou, neighboring Jiangsu Province, on Saturday evening. It was also the first match in which SIPG players failed to score.

It now sits at the top of the eight-team Group B standing on 20 points, followed by Beijing Guo’an (18) and Wuhan Zall (16). The latter two drew 2-2 in a late match on Sunday. The day's early match saw Chongqing Lifan beat Tianjin Teda 2-1.

“We created some chances and played a positive first half,” Pereira said after the match against Hebei. “But our opponent scored first, which seemed to have affected our players a lot.”

Hebei’s Brazilian striker Paulinho hit the post in the last minute of the first half before Wang Qiuming scored. Hebei’s second goal came in injury time of the second half when another Brazilian striker Marcao avoided an offside trap and sent the ball into the back of the SIPG net.

SIPG’s Hulk, Oscar, Marko Arnautovic and Ricardo Lopes started the match, but failed to create many chances. Oscar gave way for Mirahmetjan Muzepper during the half-time break due to injury.

Odil Akhmedov’s absence from the match may mean that the Uzbekistan midfielder might soon be replaced by SIPG’s newly-signed Australian midfielder Aaron Mooy.

Mooy joined the CSL side from English Premier League team Brighton and Hove Albion. The 30-year-old is currently in quarantine, and is expected to join his new teammates in Suzhou as early as on Tuesday.

Ti Gong

The club organized a match-watching activity at SIPG Xingjiangwan neighborhood on Saturday for fans who were not able to follow the team to Suzhou. Cheering from a distance, most fans consider SIPG a strong contender for the title since it was one of the earliest teams to get all its foreign players back in China before the delayed league season kicked off in July.

Another Shanghai team, Greenland Shenhua, lies fourth in Group A on 12 points after nine rounds. Group A, playing in Dalian, Liaoning Province, is considered the relatively stronger group, which is currently led by defending champion Guangzhou Evergrande on 22 points. It’s followed by Jiangsu Suning (17) and Shandong Luneng (16).

The group-stage matches of this year’s CSL will end on September 28. Regulations for the second-phase competition are yet to be announced by the Chinese Football Association.