Central Coast Mariners’ first match in Gosford since cementing their treble went poorly, as Thai giants Buriram United handed them another loss in the AFC Champions League Elite. Now, the Mariners are headed back to China, and this trip might be even tougher than the first, because they’re up against Shanghai Port, the defending Chinese Super League champions who’ll come in absolutely starved for a continental win. Before this battle to leave the basement, let’s recap how we got here and examine what the Mariners need to do to make sure they’re the ones in the win column.
Buriram United have been a massive headache for every Australian side they’ve faced, and that held true once again in Gosford. Things would start on a relatively even keel, with both sides getting some very good chances. However, a quickly-taken Buriram free kick broke the dam, as Dion Cools found Guilherme Bissoli on the low cross and the Thunder Castle took the lead in the 30th minute.
Almost immediately after half-time, Buriram threatened for more, as Bissoli nearly scored on a well-worked, end-to-end sequence. However, the glory would instead go to an Australian, and not the one the home crowd was hoping for. Goran Čaušić flicked the ball into the box in the 50th, and former Melbourne City mainstay Curtis Good was there with a header, scoring his first ever continental goal to make it 2-0.
Soon after, Mariners keeper Adam Pavlesic’s frustrations boiled over. Presented with Bissoli practically alone in Mariners territory, Pavlesic charged out of the box and chopped the Brazilian striker down, earning a straight red in the process. With the Mariners down to ten men, it looked like a total embarrassment was almost complete.
However, after stringing together some post-free kick passes in stoppage time, Alou Kuol dealt to Lucas Mauragis, who made a run around multiple defenders and fired with his left foot to make it 2-1 in the 95th, clawing back some dignity after an ugly game.
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Between this and the scoreless draw to open the A-League season against Melbourne Victory, the Mariners are technically improving. However, the first win since completing the treble still eludes them, and they won’t want to wait for it to arrive.
If you’re an Australian who keeps tabs on Chinese football, Shanghai Port are probably why. Fresh off their long-awaited second CSL championship last season, new manager Kevin Muscat has picked up right where his predecessor left off, coaching Port to both a war for league supremacy with arch-rivals Shanghai Shenhua and a place in the Chinese FA Cup final, which Port will play next month against Shandong Taishan. However, when presented with AFC opposition, these Red Eagles often turn into orange chicken—they haven’t won a continental match since November 2020.
Kevin Muscat. (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)
The fact Shanghai are in the league stage at all and forced a 2-2 draw with Johor Darul Ta’zim is an improvement, but they’re still hurting from the subsequent 3-0 road loss to Pohang Steelers. Add in a league loss to Chengdu Rongcheng, and you’ve got a team looking to heal their bruised egos at all costs.
Leading Shanghai is Brazilian attacking midfielder Oscar, the longtime face of the franchise and arguably the entire CSL. He’s been an absolute menace this season, leading the league in assists with 18 and scoring a career-high 13 goals himself. The scary part is that all four of Port’s big guns are having career years in terms of scoring.
Fellow Brazilian Gustavo, who was involved in both goals against Johor, has scored 20 times in league play; Argentinian winger Matías Vargas is up to 11 goals to go with his 12 assists; and club legend Wu Lei leads CSL with 31 goals and 39 goal involvements.
Port also have a couple more Brazilians making noise for them on loan. Léo Cittadini, here from Brazilian side Bahia, has been quite good in his first ever year abroad with three goals and six assists in league play, plus a brace in the FA Cup semi-final to knock out the hated Shenhua.
Meanwhile, Willian Popp, appearing courtesy of Thailand’s Muangthong United, has come up big in Asia, pairing with Gustavo to force that draw against Johor.
Finally, on the back line, Wang Shenchao and Tyias Browning are the two standouts, and should be the biggest obstacles on the way to keeper Yan Junling. Wang and Yan will make a particularly tough pairing, as they’ve both been club lifers since the team’s early days in China League Two, and therefore have a level of rapport far beyond any defender and keeper the Mariners have seen thus far.
Lucas Mauragis. (Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)
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To avoid getting smoked, Central Coast will need to take the ammo away from Shanghai’s big guns and force other players to shoot instead. While Oscar, Gustavo, Vargas, and Wu have been absurd in league play—their 75 goals outnumber every other team’s total—the rest of the squad have combined for just 15. That’s not to say the others can’t score, but the Port attack flows through their big four, and if those guys can’t do anything with the ball, the Mariners’ chances of success vastly improve.
However, that will also require a composed performance in net from either Jack Warshawsky or Dylan Peraić-Cullen. Whichever young keeper gets the nod, this will be his chance to prove he has the chops to succeed where Pavlesic has thus far failed, and a strong day could open all sorts of doors for him.
Finally, when the Mariners have the ball, they’ll do well to remember that Shanghai are very much mortal on defence. The Red Eagles have conceded 14 goals over their last six matches, including three or more in four of their last five, and if that vulnerability continues, this should be the Mariners chance to finally get that clockwork flowing and start climbing out of this early hole they’ve dug for themselves.
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