Shandong Taishan held on for a 4-3 win over Yunnan Yukun, despite being outshot and enjoying less possession. The home side raced into a three-goal lead inside 26 minutes and never looked back, even as Yunnan fought back late on.
Maiwulang Mijiti opened the scoring in the 10th minute, turning in Zeca's pass. Zeca then struck twice — first from Yang Liu's assist in the 16th minute, then again in the 26th minute after a layoff from Maiwulang Mijiti. Alexandru Ioniță pulled one back for Yunnan just before half-time, but Chen Pu restored the three-goal cushion in the 54th minute, finishing off another Zeca assist. Chen Pu was also booked in the 30th minute.
Yunnan dominated the box score: 58% possession, 28 total shots (14 off target), and 14 corner kicks to Shandong's two. Yet Shandong were ruthlessly efficient, scoring four times from 13 shots, eight on target. The visitors created five big chances but only converted three, while Shandong scored two of their four big chances.
