Shanghai Get Off To Winning Start
It was the first game of the season and for Shanghai Shenhua it was a pretty good start. A comfortable 2-0 win against Shenzhen Shangyangin put the 2003 champions on the right track from the off.
With the Chinese Super League expanded to 16 teams in 2008, there are another 29 games remaining for the club.
It was a chilly Saturday night at the Hongkou Stadium but Shanghai attacked from the beginning. The breakthrough game midway through the first half when former Celtic loanee Du Wei headed home powerfully from a corner.
Shenzhen did their best to get back into the match but the boys from the south are a shadow of the team that won the 2004 title. A lack of investment and problems off the pitch has seen Shenzhen struggle ever since that success.
The game was over as a contest early in the second half as Shanghai added a second. The rest of the match petered out but Shenhua played some good stuff. There is a long way to go but everybody went home happy.
The fans headed home on one of the two subway stations that are within a stone's throw of the stadium. Though there is no need to rush off as there are a host of restaurants surrounding the complex and the neighbourhood and its pubs are worth exploring.
Copyright: Soccerphile and John Duerden