On the evening of December 7, Beijing time, the AFC Champions League quarter-finals continued. The Chinese Super League team Shanghai SIPG encountered the J-League opponent Kobe Victory Fleet. After a 90-minute fierce battle, Shanghai SIPG lost 0-2 to their opponents and suffered a three-game losing streak in the AFC Champions League, failing to qualify for the quarter-finals of the season. With SIPG being eliminated in the AFC Champions League, the team suffered all three this season.
SIPG in this game is indeed not as good as its opponents in terms of strength and performance. Especially in the absence of Hulk, SIPG can hardly threaten their opponents in the frontcourt. However, several key penalties made by the referee in this game have also become an important factor affecting the trend of the game.
In the first three minutes of the game, the Shanghai SIPG team once scored a goal by Li Shenglong. But the referee whistled that Li Shenglong rammed the goalkeeper and the goal was blown invalid. After seeing this scene, Huang Jianxiang posted on social media: "At the beginning, Li Shenglong's ball was absolutely good! What happened to the referee?" In fact, from the slow motion playback, the ball was in the small penalty area. In addition, the opponent's goalkeeper also made a mistake in receiving the ball. This penalty is indeed questionable. When
reached the 82nd minute of the second half, there was another controversial penalty on the court. Vermaelen made a header in the penalty area and the ball hit the arm of teammate Kikuchi Ryuho, but the referee did not say anything. From the slow-motion playback point of view, this ball can be called a handball foul. At that time, if SIPG is given a penalty kick, the progress and results of the game will still be full of uncertainty.
The two key penalties of SIPG are the losers. The SIPG team’s exit in this game is full of regrets. Misjudgments are part of the football game, but hope that the fewer such misjudgments, the better. Aside from the controversy and penalties, the SIPG team did lose in this game by inferior skills. The team should sum up and try to learn from this failure.
