JINAN (Interstat) — Shandong Taishan scored three times before halftime and twice after the break to beat visiting Zhejiang Professional 5-0 on Saturday, capitalizing on an early red card and controlling the match from the opening exchanges. The visitors could not recover from the early setback.

Zhejiang Professional’s hopes were damaged in the 17th minute when Xu Junchi was sent off, leaving the visitors to play with 10 men for the remainder of the match. The sending-off forced Zhejiang Professional to reorganize, and Shandong Taishan took the initiative. The home side took the lead in the 20th minute through Guilherme Madruga. Shandong Taishan doubled its advantage in the 40th minute when Xie Wenneng scored. Deep in first-half stoppage time, Valeri Qazaishvili added the third with a goal in the fifth minute of added time, sending Shandong Taishan into the break with a commanding lead.

Shandong Taishan did not let up after halftime. Qazaishvili scored again in the 79th minute, and Cryzan completed the scoring in the second minute of second-half stoppage time. Zhejiang Professional’s difficulties deepened in the 88th minute when Cheng Jin was sent off, reducing the visitors to nine men. Zhejiang Professional could not find a response and finished the match without a goal while Shandong Taishan remained in control through the final whistle. Shandong Taishan’s defense held firm after the second red card and protected the clean sheet through the final minutes. The home side finished the match with a comfortable margin.

Valeri Qazaishvili had two goals and one assist, and Cryzan was Shandong Taishan’s top star with one goal and two assists. Madruga scored once, Xie Wenneng scored once in 78 minutes before being substituted, and Chen Pu provided an assist in 29 minutes after entering as a substitute. Shandong Taishan’s Mijit Mewlan was booked in the 37th minute, Huang Zhengyu was cautioned in the 64th, and Zhejiang Professional’s Liu Haofan received a yellow card in the 81st.

Zhejiang Professional used Tolic M. in the 23rd minute, Wu Wei in the 46th and Sun Guowen in the 76th. Shandong Taishan brought on Li Y. and Mijit Mewlan in the 61st minute, replaced Xie Wenneng and Huang Zhengyu in the 78th, and used Peng Xiao in the 89th. The substitutions did not alter the direction of a match that Shandong Taishan controlled after the dismissal. The late changes did not affect the outcome.

Shandong Taishan’s attacking sequence began with Madruga’s 20th-minute goal and continued through Xie Wenneng’s 40th-minute finish. Qazaishvili scored in first-half stoppage time and again in the 79th minute, and Cryzan capped the win in second-half stoppage time. The five-goal output matched the home side’s control of the match while Zhejiang Professional’s reduced numbers made a comeback unlikely.

The result moved Shandong Taishan to 1 win, 0 losses and 1 draw in this competition, and its record across all competitions is the same. Zhejiang Professional fell to 0 wins and 2 losses in the competition, and its record across all competitions is also 0 wins and 2 losses. Shandong Taishan had drawn 1-1 at Chongqing Tonglianglong in its previous match, while Zhejiang Professional had lost at home to Shanghai Port in a match that finished 4-2. Shandong Taishan’s home performance produced five goals and a clean sheet, while Zhejiang Professional remained scoreless.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Shandong Taishan 3, Zhejiang Professional 1. Interstat’s ELO system gave Shandong Taishan a 68.8 percent probability to win before kickoff. Shandong Taishan had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus 0.5. The total score of 5 went under the over/under line of 3.75.