How it happened
Valeri Qazaishvili scored twice and finished with a match rating of 10, the highest on the pitch, as Shandong Taishan beat Zhejiang 5-0 at home.
The game turned early. Zhejiang's X. Junchi was sent off on 17 minutes, and Shandong Taishan scored three minutes later through G. Madruga. X. Wenneng made it 2-0 on 40, and Qazaishvili struck in the fifth minute of first-half stoppage time to make it 3-0 at the interval.
Qazaishvili added his second on 79 minutes. Cryzan completed the scoring in the second minute of stoppage time at the end. Zhejiang lost C. Jin to a red card on 88, finishing the match with nine players.
The numbers
Shandong Taishan had 22 shots to Zhejiang's 16, and 10 of them were on target against six. The expected-goals figures were 2.98 and 2.15, so the visitors created chances even with a man down for almost the whole match. Possession was an even 50% each, and Zhejiang won the corner count 6-2.
Goalkeeper Dalei Wang kept the clean sheet with six saves and a match rating of 8.9, which is why the scoreline is wider than the chance count.
Qazaishvili also provided one assist and six key passes from 66 touches. Cryzan scored once, set up two goals and rated 9.8, with four key passes.
What it means
Shandong Taishan sit second on 47 points from 28 matches, with a goal difference of plus eight. Zhejiang are eighth on 36 points with a goal difference of minus five, so the sides were 11 points apart before kick-off.
The result also reverses the most recent meeting. In May, Zhejiang won 4-1 at home against the same opponents. Across 25 previous meetings the fixture had averaged 3.04 goals, and this one produced five, all for the home side.