A thrilling 4-3 victory over Qingdao on Friday morning moved Shanghai Port a step closer to retaining their league title. However, wins for Chengdu Rongcheng and Shanghai Shenhua mean the battle for the Chinese Super League crown is likely to go down to the wire on November 22.
Rangers chairman Andrew Cavenagh and the Ibrox board are reportedly prepared to wait until the conclusion of the Chinese season before finalising Kevin Muscat’s appointment — a timeline the Australian coach appears comfortable with. Muscat has indicated he’s in no rush to leave his current club as he aims to finish the campaign strongly.
According to the Daily Record, Muscat has already agreed terms to succeed Russell Martin at Rangers while still guiding Shanghai Port through an intense three-way title race.
After the Qingdao win, Muscat shifted focus to the demanding run-in and his team’s progress in the AFC Champions League amid a packed schedule.
He explained:
“The schedule is very tight. Once we return, we’ll carry out a full assessment of the squad and the players’ fitness. We may rotate the lineup depending on our normal preparations.
Alongside the upcoming AFC Champions League Elite League, we also have an important match on the 26th of this month, and the team will be fully ready for it.
We knew our opponents would push harder in the second half, leaving us space to counterattack. If there’s one thing to take from this match, it’s that we were a little too cautious at times, which made our defence drop deeper and allowed them more possession and opportunities to build attacks.”
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