Heilongjiang Lavaspring fell to a 1:2 defeat against Hebei Kungfu in the Regular Season - 20 fixture of League One. The visitors opened the scoring via a penalty while the hosts equalised shortly before halftime. By then, the momentum had already begun to swing towards the away side.
Dominic Vinicius seized the initiative for Heilongjiang with a penalty in the 13th minute, earning a yellow card for his opponent T. Conraad. Hebei Kungfu weathered that storm and found their rhythm in the dying moments of the half.
Discipline issues plagued Heilongjiang from the restart. Li Zhi received a second yellow in the 46th minute and was dismissed moments later. Heilongjiang were reduced to ten men, and the visitors were looking to exploit the numerical advantage. The numerical gap widened when Dominic Vinicius was shown a second yellow card in the 51st minute.
Heilongjiang were forced to substitute Fan Bojian to shore up the midfield after losing a player. Hebei Kungfu controlled the tempo, with T. Conraad being replaced in the 84th minute as they managed the game.
The victory moves Hebei Kungfu up to ninth place on 24 points from 21 matches played. Heilongjiang Lavaspring remain in twelfth spot with 22 points, having played 21 matches so far. To be fair, the hosts have picked up points in the last few rounds despite the inconsistency.
Heilongjiang need the points badly after that heavy defeat against Nantun Zhijun. They switched off at the back in those previous encounters and paid the price again today. Hebei Kungfu secured three crucial points to maintain their push for the upper half.