Shandong Taishan beat Bangkok United on penalties and advanced to the AFC Champions League
2024-08-14
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On August 13, the 2024-2025 AFC Champions League play-offs were held at the Jinan Olympic Sports Center Stadium, with Shandong Taishan playing at home against the Thai team Bangkok United. The two teams tied 1-1 in regular time and neither scored in overtime. In the end, Shandong Taishan defeated the opponent 4-3 and 5-4 in the penalty shootout, successfully advancing to the AFC Champions League.
As the team's top scorer Kressan was injured in the last round of the Chinese Super League, Wu Xinghan did not sign up, and Gao Zhunyi was suspended due to a red card in the AFC Champions League last season. In this game, Shandong Taishan could only field one foreign player, Kazaishvili, in the starting lineup. Zhao Jianfei and Zheng Zheng partnered as central defenders in the back line, and the injured Liu Yang started the game.
Since the play-offs are decided in a single match, both sides played cautiously in the first half, with few fast-paced offensive and defensive scenes. The deadlock was broken in the 36th minute when Bangkok United's foreign aid, Zivkovic, who had played for Changchun Yatai and Guangzhou City, broke away from the defense and shot low into the penalty area, giving the visiting team the lead. However, the replay showed that Zivkovic was suspected of being offside when he received the ball. Fortunately, 6 minutes later, Shandong Taishan took a tactical corner kick from the left, and Kazaishvili took the ball and made a series of fake moves to cut inside, and a shot went straight into the dead corner, equalizing the score for Shandong Taishan.
After the change of sides, the game remained in a stalemate. Shandong Taishan, lacking offensive means, could only rely on replacing tall players such as Bi Jinhao to seek breakthroughs, while Bangkok United was determined to create opportunities through defensive counterattacks. After 90 minutes of regular time, neither side scored, and had to enter overtime.
After 30 minutes of extra time, neither team made any progress and the game had to be decided by a penalty shootout. In the penalty shootout, although Shandong Taishan's Li Yuanyi missed a penalty, two Bangkok United players missed penalties. In the end, Shandong Taishan defeated Bangkok United 4-3 in the penalty shootout and advanced to the AFC Champions League.
At this point, the allocation of the four Chinese Super League teams in the new season of the AFC Champions League has been finalized. Shanghai Haigang, Shanghai Shenhua and Shandong Taishan will participate in the AFC Champions League Elite League, Zhejiang will participate in the AFC Champions League 2, and the draw ceremony for the two events will be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on August 16.
