Shandong Taishan defeated Chengdu Rongcheng 1-0 in the Chinese Football Association (CFA) Cup semifinals in Jinan, east China’s Shandong Province, on Tuesday to advance to the tournament’s final for the seventh straight time.

Most of the game’s highlights took place in the closing minutes. First in the 87th minute, Chengdu’s Hu Hetao passed to Manuel Palacios, whose shot from close range was blocked by Shandong goalkeeper Wang Dalei.

Three minutes later, Valeri Qazaishvili’s cross from the left went into the box without being touched, despite most of the players from both teams crowding into the area, before falling to Shandong’s Zheng Zheng, who was open next to the net. He then scored an easy goal, his first since October 18, 2021, to send his team to the final.

The victory was Taishan’s third in a row against Rongcheng this season, all on clean sheets. Shandong have won the Chinese FA Cup eight times, the most among all clubs. They compiled a three-year winning streak between 2019 and 2022, but lost to Shanghai Shenhua in last season’s final.

Shandong will meet the winner between Shanghai Shenhua and Shanghai Port in this year’s final. The two Shanghai teams will face each other on Wednesday night at Port’s home stadium in the other semifinal contest.

Port currently lead the Chinese Super League with 69 points after 26 games, two more than second-placed Shenhua. But Shenhua have gone unbeaten with two wins and a draw in their last three meetings with Port. Moreover, they managed to overcome deficits to win each of their past three games, showing remarkable resilience.

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