Each week we keep you updated with the latest action from the Chinese Super League Shanghai sides. For previous highlights, Beijing games and other CSL news, click here. This week saw the ninth game of the season, and the hotly anticipated Shanghai Derby.
Shanghai SIPG vs Shanghai Shenhua
Saturday night saw a sell-out 46,500 crowd pack into the Shanghai Stadium to see league leaders Shanghai SIPG take on seventh placed Shanghai Shenhua in what was surely the most hyped Shanghai Derby in history.
The tone was set early when Shenhua's big money signing Tim Cahill was booked after just 3 minutes, despite it looking like the Australian was on the receiving end of some argy-bargy from SIPG captain Sun Xiang. And Shenhua were down to ten men with just 17 minutes on the clock after a reckless challenge by Lu Zheng on SIPG's Brazilian midfielder Davi earned him his marching orders.
Bai Jiajun followed him in first half injury time, after clashing with Fu Huan when the ball broke on the edge of the Shenhua box, reducing the visitors to nine men. Things got even worse for Shenhua when Argentine Dario Conca converted the resulting free kick for a 1-0 halftime SIPG lead.
The contest was effectively over when Shenhua's Greek defender Avraam Papadopoulos turned another Dario Conca free kick into his own net. Wu Lei then got his second of the season after being slipped in down the right by Fu Huan. Swedish striker Tobias Hysen then added two more with his head to complete the rout.
It was all too much for Shenhua defender Li Jianbin, who was shown a second yellow for questioning the referee’s decision following Hysen's first goal, Shenhua ending the game with just eight men. And on the sidelines, as Li was walking off the field, Tim Cahill's Shenhua translator Zhou Xin seemed to go down under the softest of cheek strokes from SIPG goalkeeper coach and That's columnist Ian Walker. We have an extra video of that below - the beard is clearly giving Walker super strength.
The game ended 5-0 with nine yellow cards and three reds, and leaves SIPG top of the table. They travel to second place Guangzhou Evergrande on Friday evening in what should be another very interesting encounter.
Shanghai SIPG vs Shanghai Shenhua YouTube (VPN required):
Shanghai SIPG vs Shanghai Shenhua TuDou (No VPN required):
Ian Walker Super Slapper YouTube (VPN required):
Ian Walker Super Slapper TuDou (No VPN required):
At least it gave Cahill and Walker something they could both laugh about...
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