Summary The match took place on 20 July 1997 with kick-off at 19:00. Beijing Guoan fielded a
4-4-2 formation with
Fu Bin in goal.
Xie Zhaoyang,
Li Hongjun,
Lü Jun, and
Wang Shaolei lined up in defence. Further up the pitch, captain
Cao Xiandong was among the four midfielders who provided support for the two men up front:
Andrés Olivas and
Casiano Delvalle. Delvalle would make his Guoan debut in this match, forming a strike partnership with Andrés Olivas and with his Paraguayan compatriot
Jorge Campos supporting behind them in midfield – the first time the three have played together. Starting the match, Beijing Guoan sat back to counter-attack, and as a result, Shanghai Shenhua gained the majority of the ball. In the third minute, a chance broke for Shenhua as
Shen Si's free-kick connected with Fan Zhiyi, who could not keep the shot under the crossbar. The chances presented itself for Shenhua again, as
Liu Jun had a prime opportunity to send Shenhua 1–0 up in the fourth minute, but Guoan defender Xie Zhaoyang eventually chased back to clear the ball away. Against the run of play, it was Guoan who opened the scoring; Cao Xiandong's cross from the right flank connected with the head of Olivas, who nodded the ball in. Shenhua players, who believed that Olivas was offside as he got on the receiving end of the cross, showed dissent to the referee. Guoan manager Jin Zhiyang noticed this shift in attitude, and urged his players to counter-attack more effectively. In the 20th minute, Cao Xiandong's shot, after being deflected by several Shenhua players on the way, squeezed past the fingertips of Kleymyonov and into the goal, giving Guoan a 2–0 lead. Four minutes after the restart, Shenhua played out a short corner to
Wu Chengying at the edge of the penalty area, who blasted the ball past a sea of Guoan defenders and Fu Bin, halving Shenhua's deficit to a single goal. Guoan nearly had a third goal by the 30th minute, however, Olivas' header was saved by Kleymyonov. Guoan's third goal came two minutes later, as a free Delvalle inside the six-yard box headed the ball past Kleymyonov, restoring Guoan's two-goal advantage. Shenhua immediately had a chance to score a second;
Qi Hong's shot on the rebound was inches wide of the post. Three minutes later,
Cheng Yaodong brought down a charging Delvalle inside Shenhua's own penalty ara, and Li Yingming, the referee, penalised Cheng Yaodong as he pointed to the spot. Jorge Campos slotted the ball into the top left corner, increasing the advantage to three goals. Just before half-time, Fu Bin's distribution found Campos in space, and Campos charged forward to pull off a solo goal, which according to Jin Zhiyang, was the best goal of the match. At half-time, Guoan lead Shenhua by 5 goals to 1, the reverse of Guoan's last result against
Dalian Wanda in
Dalian. After the break, Adolfo Fatecha and Edgar Denis came on to replace Qi Hong and Xie Hui, but it seemed like the Shenhua team had lost their spirit to fight. In the 58th minute, a Shenhua teammate found Fan Zhiyi through on goal, but his shot was well-blocked by Fu Bin. Four minutes later, a
Zhou Ning through ball found Delvalle, who claimed his second goal of the match. In the 67th minutes, merely five minutes after the sixth goal, a high-cross from the left side found Olivas, whose header looped past the goalkeeper, getting his second goal of the match. In the 75th minute, a cross went through a Guoan player dragging out the lone goalkeeper, before Olivas' tap-in from point-blank range completed his hat-trick and gave Guoan an 8–1 lead. Five minutes later, a Delvalle low shot from the edge of the penalty arc went through the fatigued bodies of a set of Shenhua players and past the goalkeeper, completing his personal hat-trick. Guoan substitute
Liu Jianjun received a second yellow card for a mistimed slide tackle and was sent off with two minutes and stoppage time still to go. Despite playing with 10-men for the remainder of the match, Guoan kept the scoreline at 9–1 until the final whistle. A total of eight yellow cards and one red card were dished out.
Details ==Aftermath==