September 8: Zhejiang Lose 1-2 to Tianjin Jinmen Tiger, Conceding After Just 6 Minutes as Familiar Problems Return

Just six minutes after kickoff, Zhao Bo failed to hold the shot, and Hadas waited inside the penalty area before calmly finishing into the net.

TEDA Football Stadium erupted instantly. Jinmen Tiger fans had waited nearly a year to see the fastest goal of this season.

Zhejiang head coach Ross leaned back on the bench with little expression on his face. He probably still had not figured out how the same lineup that crushed Yunnan Yukun 6-0 in the previous match suddenly showed its weaknesses against a relegation-threatened team.

In the first minute of stoppage time in the first half, Mitryushkin stepped up. Receiving the ball on the left side of the attack, he struck from a long distance, and the ball bounced before going into the lower left corner near the post. It was a world-class goal, with nothing more to say. Zhejiang entered halftime level at 1-1.

But this goal covered up too many problems.

Throughout the first half, Zhejiang struggled to play out from the back, could not control the midfield, and Mitryushkin, Wang Yudong, and Tao Qianglong operated individually in attack. What was the use of having more possession? Their shots carried very little threat. Jinmen Tiger, meanwhile, had less than 30 percent possession, but every counterattack made Zhejiang's defense nervous.

Where did the problem come from?

In the 6-0 win on August 29, Zhejiang overwhelmed Yunnan Yukun, with Mitryushkin scoring a hat-trick and Tolic providing four assists. It was the biggest Super League victory in Zhejiang's history. But what happened to Yunnan Yukun in that match? The team was not fully focused on the league and was saving energy for the FA Cup. Zhejiang's six goals came against a team that had already given up resistance.

Ross believed in that performance. He copied the starting lineup from that match and did not even change the formation.

Yu Genwei did not. Before the match, he revealed his plan: a dedicated defensive setup targeting Mitryushkin, Wang Yudong, and Tolic. In simple terms: you played comfortably last time, but this time I will not even let you turn around.

In the 59th minute, Yu Genwei brought on Ji Shengpan and replaced Huang Jiahui with Chen Zhexuan. For Jinmen Tiger fans, this substitution was a signal: they were about to make their move.

This season, Ji Shengpan has made 21 league appearances, with only three starts and 18 substitute appearances. But he has scored four goals, all after coming off the bench. In Round 9 against Three Towns, he scored an equalizer in the 90+9th minute; in Round 17 against Shenzhen, he sealed the win in the 90+6th minute; in Round 21 against Yukun, he scored 17 minutes after entering as a substitute and helped start a comeback from 1-3 down. Yu Genwei's decision to deploy this card between the 60th and 70th minutes has become a regular pattern.

In the 72nd minute, Salvador's midfielder delivered a lofted pass over the top. Hadas received the ball, cut inside past the defender, and chipped it into the box. The ball deflected off a defender, and Ji Shengpan arrived at exactly the right spot to finish with a backheel. It took 13 minutes from the substitution to the goal.

Ross reacted even more slowly. Ten minutes after Ji Shengpan scored, he finally made a substitution, bringing on striker Gaudi for left-back Sun Guowen.

2-1, and the final whistle blew.

Ross sat on the coaching bench looking confused. He had been waiting for the same rabbit that had run into the tree last time to repeat the mistake, but Jinmen Tiger did not give him that chance.

The day before the match, direct relegation rival Wuhan Three Towns drew 2-2 at home with Qingdao West Coast, moving one point above Jinmen Tiger. Yu Genwei had no choice in this match and went all out from the start. Wang Qiuming's reckless foul on Mitryushkin was clear to see — they were truly ready for a battle.

What about Zhejiang? Their build-up from the back was error-prone, the midfield lacked connection, and the attack relied entirely on foreign players' individual ability. Cheng Jin said after the match that they had not handled the details well, a statement that sounded almost like saying nothing.

All the goodwill Zhejiang had built from the previous 6-0 victory disappeared in this 1-2 defeat.

In the next round, Zhejiang will host Wuhan Three Towns. Three Towns are also fighting relegation. Another defeat would turn the relegation alarm from a theoretical possibility into a real threat.

Most matches between teams ranked around ninth to the lower positions in the Chinese Super League are dull. The title race has lost suspense, relegation follows a different logic, and the teams in the middle seem to have little consequence no matter how they play. In the 2025 season, Qingdao Hainiu and Wuhan Three Towns secured survival with only 25 points, setting the lowest survival points line in CSL history. Mid-to-lower table teams simply drifting through the season has become common.

Some have suggested changing the CSL to a four-up, four-down system or a 3.5-up, 3.5-down system, with the 13th-place CSL team playing a playoff against the fourth-place team from China League One. Whether this would motivate mid-to-lower table teams is uncertain, but the current two-promoted, two-relegated system has increasingly become less inspiring.

After the final whistle, fans at TEDA Football Stadium stayed and watched Jinmen Tiger players celebrate together on the pitch. Three goals, three different stories, connecting a classic clash between a relegation contender and a mid-table team.

After the match, Yu Genwei probably would not say he was 'satisfied' like he did after the previous loss to Zhejiang. The last time he said that, fans reacted strongly. This time, the three points in his hands mattered more than any nice words.

When fighting relegation, beautiful possession football is not as valuable as a desperate run for a chance and a powerful long-range shot.

It may sound unpleasant, but that is how the Chinese Super League is.