Relegation crisis! Time is running out for Hainiu.

Reporter Chen Yong reports After losing 1-3 to Taishan, Hainiu's predicament is worsening — besides trailing in points, they have played two more matches than relegation rivals Sanzhen and Jinmen Tiger. With only 7 rounds left in the league, Hainiu's hopes of staying up are fading.

In the match against Taishan, Hainiu only had two foreign players on the field: midfielder Ezhuma and winger Yeboya. The other three foreign players had resumed training but were not fit for the match, so they were not even included in the 23-man squad. In contrast, Taishan had all five foreign players healthy and were playing at home, with over 30,000 Taishan fans cheering them on. It was very difficult for Hainiu to win.

Despite the difficulties, Hainiu did not give up. Trailing 0-2, Jin Yonghao pulled one back. This season, he has scored 4 goals and provided 2 assists for Hainiu; during the previous four-match winning streak, he contributed 3 goals. In the following play, although Hainiu's defense had gaps, they also created many scoring opportunities. The two teams combined for 38 shots, evenly split, and had the same number of corner kicks. It must be said that Hainiu's desire to win was very strong, making the Qilu Derby quite exciting.

But in the end, Hainiu still lost the match. Although they gave their all, there were gaps in the team's overall strength and individual player abilities, which led to their 1-3 defeat.

After winning this match, interim head coach Tang Tian has led the team to three consecutive victories, temporarily placing them second in the standings. In these three matches, Taishan focused on defense overall, but their specific strategies varied greatly. For example, in the previous round against Jinmen Tiger, Tang Tian adopted a strategy of using inferior players to defeat superior ones, striking after the opponent's move. In this match against Hainiu, Tang Tian directly started with five foreign players to seize the initiative.

Before the match, Tang Tian referred to this Qilu Derby as a "family banquet." However, it was not an ordinary "family banquet"; for Taishan it was a battle for dignity, and for Hainiu it was a "life-or-death battle."

This season, Hainiu's predicament is closely related to foreign player injuries and suspensions: From round 8 to round 11 of the Chinese Super League, Hainiu once achieved four consecutive wins, with three of those matches featuring five foreign players on the field, and the other match also featuring four foreign players.

Unfortunately, then Mesaoudi was ruled out for the season, Yeboya suspended for 5 rounds, and even more despairingly, the new foreign player Hainiu brought in, Tufegdzic, suffered a serious injury after just one match. Center forwards Strandberg and Angelkovic also had unstable playing time. Hainiu's performance plummeted: Starting from round 18 of the CSL, they suffered six consecutive losses, including a crucial home match in round 20 where they lost 0-2 to relegation rival Jinmen Tiger. The city rival West Coast and provincial rival Taishan also showed no mercy in their matches against them. During this six-game losing streak, Hainiu's foreign players averaged only 2.83 appearances per match.

Currently, there are 7 rounds left in the CSL. Hainiu has 14 points, Sanzhen has 15, and Jinmen Tiger has 17. The latter two teams still have 9 matches each, with Jinmen Tiger yet to play their current round. In the remaining 7 rounds, Hainiu's home match against Sanzhen in round 25 will be a crucial game — a "Battle of the Titans" for them to catch up or overtake Sanzhen. But for Hainiu to avoid relegation, they need not only to surpass Sanzhen but also to overtake Jinmen Tiger. To make matters worse, Hainiu has a disadvantage in head-to-head record against Jinmen Tiger.

Trailing in points, having played two more matches, and with the future form of foreign players unknown, for Hainiu, facing such a difficult predicament, they need a miracle to survive relegation.