Changchun Yatai beat Ningbo Professional 2:0 on Friday evening in League One's regular season, round 22. The hosts took the lead in the second half and added a late goal to close out the match. Both sides had played 21 league games before this fixture.
J. Salazar opened the scoring in the 78th minute, finishing a chance that never looked like it would come. Ningbo did not travel to make up the numbers — they had drawn 1:1 with Meizhou Hakka in their last outing, then lost 2:3 away to Yanbian Longding. The visitors left England without a shot on target all evening.
And here's the thing about the numbers — Changchun held 67 per cent possession and registered five shots on target. Ningbo managed only two off-target efforts and three saves from their goalkeeper. Four big chances created by the hosts versus none for the visitors tells you where the danger lay.
By then the match had settled into a rhythm. Fan Chao added the second goal in the 90th minute plus two, after a series of substitutions had already reshaped both sides. Tan Long received a yellow card in the 71st minute, and Liu Yue went off the same way 12 minutes later.
The result leaves Changchun in 10th place on 25 points, while Ningbo move up to 9th with 26. The hosts had lost three of their last five before this win, including a heavy 0:3 defeat to Guangzhou E-Power. Ningbo's run of one draw and four losses in five games came to an end here.