End of season apathy

Inter Shanghai took the honours in the final Shanghai derby of the China Super League season yesterday, whooping Pudong-based Shanghai Zobon 3-0.

Shen Han opened the scoring, with a wonderful piece of control. The 24-year-old forward, unmarked on the right-hand side of the box, brought a cross from the left down on his foot before finishing neatly to open the scoring after just six minutes. Ghanaian forward Kwame Ayew added a second with a precision header, stooping low to guide the ball into the net past the ailing Zobon keeper. Wang Yun completed the drubbing with an excellent hook shot near the edge of the box in the 65th minute.

The three splendid goals belied the match's status as meaningless end-of-season fare -- both teams had nothing to play for. Unfortunately, the fans were only too aware of this, and despite it being a Shanghai Derby, there couldn't have been more than 2,000 spectators, if that. Inter's loyal choir were in fine form though, even if their numbers were much smaller than usual. About 150 or so blue and white-striped fans made quite a din considering they were in a virtually empty 80,000 capacity stadium.

This derby was nothing compared to the Shanghai derby. This title is reserved for meetings between Inter and their more illustrious rivals from the north of the city, Shenhua.

The CSL plays its concluding fixtures next week. Shenhua require just one point from their clash with Wuhan Huanghelou up at Hong Kou Stadium next Saturday to be sure of clinching the runners-up spot in the league and with it a place in next seasons Asian Champions League. Inter Shanghai head west to wrap up their season against Chongqing, while Shanghai Zobon take on Shenzhen at Yuanshen Stadium in Pudong.

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