9-8! A wild night in the Suzhou Super League: underdog shocks to reach the final, Nanjing eliminated, 60,000 fans witness the event

On October 18th Beijing time, the Suzhou Super League semifinals began with high excitement, as the opening game between Nanjing and Taizhou drew an enthusiastic crowd of 60,000. After a fierce battle, the teams ended regular time tied 1-1, leading to a penalty shootout. Ultimately, Taizhou showed superior penalty execution and won 9-8 on aggregate, knocking out Nanjing and pulling off back-to-back upsets to reach the final. It was truly a thrilling and crazy night. The final opponent will be decided between Nantong and Wuxi!

Nanjing secured second place in the regular season, just behind undefeated Nantong. In the quarterfinals, they faced seventh-ranked Lianyungang and narrowly advanced through a penalty shootout, barely escaping elimination to reach the semifinals. Taizhou finished sixth in the regular season and caused an upset in the quarterfinals by eliminating Xuzhou to reach the semifinals. Thus, Nanjing and Taizhou met in the semifinals to fight for a spot in the final. Could Taizhou pull off another surprise? The chances were high, considering Taizhou had previously beaten Nanjing 3-0 in the regular season. Now, in this rematch, would Nanjing avenge their loss or would Taizhou complete a double victory? The answer was about to unfold. Additionally, the match was extremely intense, with 60,000 fans watching live!

Once the match started, both teams played evenly matched football, but the home side Nanjing took the lead first. Feng Boyuan assisted Teng Shuai with a header to open the scoring. However, after taking the lead, Nanjing failed to add another goal. In the second half, Taizhou found an opportunity to equalize when Wang Zhenyu headed in a corner kick delivered by a teammate. Neither side managed to score afterward, and the game ended 1-1, forcing a tense penalty shootout. This marked the second consecutive round that Nanjing had to settle the match on penalties!

The penalty shootout was extremely intense. Nanjing missed their first shot, but Taizhou responded by missing their second attempt as well. Both teams then scored their subsequent penalties, pushing the contest into sudden death after five rounds. In the ninth round, Taizhou scored while Nanjing missed, allowing Taizhou to defeat Nanjing and advance to the final. Taizhou emerged as the biggest dark horse, ending the battle for supremacy in Jiangsu early. Now, all eyes turn to whether Wuxi can topple the powerhouse Nantong. Let’s wait and see—good luck to all!

Written by / Sports Novel

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