How it happened
Henan FC controlled the match and still lost it. Tianjin Jinmen Tiger scored once, through Guilherme Schettine in the 27th minute, and held that lead through to the end of a game that ran to 97 minutes for the goalkeeper and the home midfielder alike.
The goal came from a side with 29% of the ball. It was the only one of the match, and the score was 1-0 at half-time as well. Henan spent the second half without an equaliser, with 14 shots in total but only three on target. Tianjin managed two on target from five attempts, and one of them counted.
Yan Bingliang stood in the way of the rest. The Tianjin goalkeeper made three saves, which means every Henan effort that hit the target was stopped, and he left with a match rating of 7.6.
The numbers
The estimated expected goals were 0.72 for Henan and 0.40 for Tianjin, so the home side created the better chances, though not by a wide margin. Henan won the corner count 5-4, a much closer split than the 71% to 29% gap in possession.
Shangyuan Wang had the highest rating in the match, 8.1, for Henan. He made 95 touches and four key passes over 97 minutes. Schettine took a match rating of 7.8 for his goal in 72 minutes on the pitch, with 30 touches. Yan's 7.6 completed the top three.
What it means
Tianjin are fourth in the table on 41 points from 28 matches, seven more than tenth-placed Henan on 34. Their last ten matches brought six wins, two draws and two defeats, 14 goals scored and 10 conceded, an average of two points per match.
Tianjin have outscored their expected goals this season, with 38 goals from 29.7 xG. This was a different kind of win, built on a single chance and a busy goalkeeper rather than on volume.
Henan's last ten matches brought one win, seven draws and two defeats. The head-to-head record also leans away from them: Tianjin have won 16 of 33 meetings to Henan's seven, with 10 drawn, and four of the last five.