Match Report
61 points separated the sides: Shandong Taishan 2nd on 78, Guangzhou Evergrande 17th on 17. Scoring rates set the scale: Guangzhou Evergrande 0.71 scored and 1.85 conceded per game, Shandong Taishan 2.56 and 0.88, with the league averaging 1.43.
Guangzhou Evergrande had gone 5 games without a win. Guangzhou Evergrande had banked 3 of the last 15 points on offer; Shandong Taishan, 10.
GioScore's database holds 5 meetings between the two: 3 for Guangzhou Evergrande, 1 for Shandong Taishan and 1 drawn, at 2 goals per meeting. This has been a host's fixture — the home side won 80% of the meetings. The fixture leans high-scoring: 60% of meetings brought at least three goals, and both sides scored in 60%.
Tianhe Stadium in Canton staged the fixture, a ground that holds 60,151. Half-time and full-time told different stories: it was 2-2 at the break, before 2 more goals closed it at 2-4.