In recent years, the top division in China has slowly become a new locus of appealing, high-octane soccer. Some of this has to do with the big name stars the league has drawn in like Carlos Tevez, Alexandre Pato, Ricardo Carvahlo and a host of others.
However, in the past couple weeks, it seems a different pattern is getting all the attention — the bizarre displays of violence and aggression that have unfolded on the field.
You might have recently seen clips of the massive brawl between Shanghai SIPG and Guangzhou R&F that have made their way around the internet. Former Chelsea midfielder Oscar started the chaos by blasting a ball at two opponents and has since been fined and banned for his role in the incident.
Well, the CSL has provided hybrid soccer, reality TV and WWE fans with another gem. Yesterday, during a match between Beijing Guan and Jiangsu Suning, Beijing striker and Turkish star Burak Yilmaz slapped an opposing player in the face and got a straight red card. Do we even need to tell you what happens next?
One of our guys Matt just posted this close up so will be interesting to see his ban!! pic.twitter.com/xzMfazfliv
— GZFuligans (@GzFuligans) June 26, 2017
Hopefully this spell of nastiness doesn’t continue in the league but it makes for some quality entertainment in the lull of summer.