Daily Out of Tune

Date:2007-11-07

Shanghai Yue Opera gained more than a measure of revenge against its nemesis of the last two years when it romped past Shanghai Daily 6-2 to snatch third place in the annual Wenxin Cup today.

Having been beaten by 0-5 (in last year's third-fourth place clash) and 2-5 in the group stages this year, the musicians played the right tune beginning 2pm today, especially in the second half, as they ran rampant against a tiring and under-staffed Daily team.

The Daily was missing key personnel, including striker Zhu Shenshen and defender Fu Chenghao due to work commitments, and its bench was also depleted with just two players on stand-by -- Tom Qian and Zhang Shunyi. This probably took its toll on the players on the field, who battled manfully in the first half, catching the Yue players in offside position on many occasions.

With the opponents dominating possession, it was but a matter of time before the deadlock was broken and Opera opened up a 2-0 lead before striker Chen Yin scored an opportunistic goal following a scramble in the box just before the half-time whistle.

The second half saw the same one-way traffic, with the musicians playing with a fluidity that is their hallmark. Though the Daily defended well, the lack of fresh legs was always going to be a problem. And it showed in the three-goal burst by the operamen, who by now were running rampant.

The Daily did manage to pull a goal back with a wonderful free-kick by Yang Shengshuo just outside the Opera box, striker Zhou Nan doing the initial spadework by leaving the ball for Yang to blast it past the goalkeeper.

There was, however, still time for the rivals to score one more. Despite the scoreline, Zhang Liuhao in the Daily goal had a good game, and played on despite having injured his wrist while keeping out a rasping shot on goal in the first half.

The trophy went to the oriental Sports Daily, which edged Shanghai oriental Morning Post 2-0 in the final. Shanghai Daily finished fourth, a step down from its best performance last year, when it ended third.