Dalian Huaiyi pulled off a surprise victory over Nantong Zhiyun, winning 3:2 in the twenty-first round of Ligi Yid on Saturday. The home side held their nerve in the closing stages to secure all three points, with N. Mushekwi scoring twice to end a barren spell for the visitors. By then the result had already shifted the mood in the stadium, and the hosts celebrated a win they had no right to expect.
Mushekwi opened the scoring in the twenty-ninth minute, giving Dalian an early advantage. Liu Yun levelled just two minutes later, and the game settled into a rhythm where neither side dominated. The hosts dallied on the ball at times but kept knocking on the door, and when Jia Boyan found the net in the fifty-ninth minute they took the lead for the first time. Things came to a head when A. Kalulu equalised for Nantong in the sixty-sixth minute, and the match looked set for a draw.
That is until Mushekwi struck again in the ninetieth minute, completing his brace and sending the home crowd into raptures. The goal brought tears to faces that had been tense for ninety minutes, and it meant the hosts would climb away from mid-table mediocrity. To be fair, Nantong had created more opportunities but failed to convert them when it mattered.
The statistics tell a different story from the result. Nantong controlled possession at 65 per cent and completed 347 passes compared to Dalian's 188. They also registered more corners and crossed the ball more frequently, yet their shots on target totalled just four against Dalian's seven. The hosts were dominant in the air from set plays, winning 15 of their 29 aerial duels, and that physicality may have tipped the balance in the closing moments.
The result moves Dalian Huaiyi closer to the upper reaches of the table, though they remain in eighth place with 24 points from 20 games. Nantong sit fifth with 35 points, but this defeat brings them back to earth after a run of results that had suggested they were genuine promotion contenders. The table goes out of the window in these games, and Saturday proved that once more.