Stalemate in Suoyuwan: Dalian Zhixing, Wuhan Three Towns Share the Points as Super League Grind Intensifies
As the October mist rolled across Dalian Suoyuwan Football Stadium, Dalian Zhixing and Wuhan Three Towns played to a goalless draw that felt, at times, like the kind of contest where two teams tried their best to avoid calamity rather than seize the moment. The 0-0 scoreline on Sunday afternoon leaves both sides stagnant in their respective sections of the Super League table—Dalian Zhixing clinging to ninth spot, Wuhan hovering perilously close to the drop.
For Dalian, the frustrations of recent weeks were evident in every hesitant touch and cautious transition. The hosts, entering the day on the heels of back-to-back defeats—most recently a listless 0-2 loss to Qingdao Youth Island—began with cautious optimism, looking to rediscover some of the verve that brought them victory against Sichuan Jiuniu last month. Instead, they found themselves mired in midfield congestion, often reduced to hopeful cross-field balls that rarely troubled Wuhan keeper Liu Dianzuo.
Wuhan, meanwhile, arrived in Dalian wary of yet another collapse. Their recent form has bordered on catastrophic, conceding a cascade of goals in September: a 2-5 home defeat to Henan Jianye, a humbling 0-4 loss at Tianjin Teda, and a frantic 2-3 defeat to Shanghai SIPG that summed up a side never far from the precipice. Their lone bright spot, the late win over Shanghai Shenhua, felt distant—a memory as faded as the autumn sun filtering through Suoyuwan’s rafters.
Yet, for all the caution, the match was not without incident. In the 24th minute, Dalian’s Daniel Penha intercepted a slack Wuhan clearance and surged toward the penalty arc, only for his lashed right-foot effort to veer wide of the post. Moments later, Zakaria Labyad found space on the left and delivered a teasing cross, but Liu Zhurun’s header floated harmlessly over. Wuhan’s best chance of the half arrived in the 39th, when Gustavo Sauer wriggled free in the area and forced Zhang Yan into a sharp save at his near post.
Both teams emerged after halftime knowing a single breakthrough could define their season’s tone heading into the closing months. Dalian, urged on by a restless home crowd mindful of the club’s precarious grip on a top-half finish, pressed forward with greater urgency. A free kick drawn by Zhu Pengyu offered a glimpse of hope in the 58th minute, but Penha’s curling shot lacked the dip to trouble the net.
Wuhan, meanwhile, relied on the physicality of Alexandru Tudorie up top, hoping to nick a decisive moment on the counter. That moment nearly arrived in the 71st, when Zhong Jinbao’s surging run split Dalian’s back line. His square pass found Long Wei darting into the box, but Wei’s low strike was blocked expertly by Han Pengfei, who marshaled the Dalian defense with stoic composure throughout the afternoon.
As the clock ticked toward stoppage time, the tension grew, each side wary of the fatal mistake that would undo a hard-fought point. Tempers briefly flared in the 83rd minute after a crunching midfield challenge by Wuhan’s Darlan drew protests from Dalian’s bench, but referee Ma Ning—a steady presence—kept control, waving away calls for a booking.
By the final whistle, both teams seemed resigned to their fates: a Dalian squad unable to turn possession into points, and a Wuhan side content not to be outclassed, if not out of danger. The result extends Dalian’s winless run to three and offers scant relief for a team hoping to consolidate its place in the league’s top ten. Their ninth position on 33 points is suddenly precarious, with a cluster of rivals closing in as the season’s end looms larger.
For Wuhan Three Towns, the draw halts a damaging two-match losing streak, but does little to ease relegation fears. Now 12th on just 24 points—six clear of the drop, but still uncomfortably close—Wuhan’s inability to shore up a porous defense or find consistency in attack continues to cast a long shadow. Their head-to-head record remains tight; neither team having found an edge across two tense encounters this year.
Looking ahead, the stakes for both clubs are undeniable. Dalian, desperate to halt their slide, face a daunting run-in: their margin for error narrowing with each faltering step. Wuhan’s prospects are even grimmer; every fixture now demands the urgency—and perhaps the courage—that so often eluded them on Sunday.
On a gray afternoon in Dalian, neither side found the spark to ignite their seasons, leaving the shadows over Suoyuwan a little heavier—and their Super League fates hanging that much more uncertainly in the autumn air.