Champions League success despite FA Cup loss for Socceroo

The Chinese Super League season concluded this past week with both the Championship and FA Cup concluding. One Socceroo had to settle for second place in both.

Aaron Mooy's second season with Chinese side Shanghai Port concluded this past weekend. The Socceroo received runner-up medals in both the Chinese Super League and the Chinese FA Cup.

Chinese Super League 2021 season conclusion

Shandong Luneng Taishan won both the Chinese Super League and FA Cup.
Socceroo Aaron Mooy's Shanghai Port finished second in both competitions.
The CSL has faced a difficult season due to financial problems within certain clubs.

More news on Aussies Abroad can be found on FTBL.

First placed Shandong Luneng won the Chinese Super League this past week and followed this up with a Chinese FA Cup win on Sunday. They beat Mooy's Shanghai Port by a scoreline of 1-0 to win the Cup and finished six points ahead of Shanghai in the Championship.

The season did not end in a complete loss for Shanghai Port, with the club securing an AFC Champions League group stage position on their last day of competition. They snatched their place on the last day of competition with a win over third placed Ghangzhou.

Shanghai Port's attainment of the Champions League place was in part due to Mooy's late season heroics. With the second to fourth places being quite close until the last few games, it was Mooy's goal contributions in two of the last three games that lead Shanghai Port retaining important points.

In total Mooy made thirteen Super League appearances this season, scoring five times in the league. He signed with the club ahead of the 2020 season, moving from English side Brighton and Hove Albion for an undisclosed fee. Mooy still has a year and a half remaining on his current contract.

It was a turbulent campaign within the Chinese Super League. Last season's league champions Jiangsu FC season operations ceased operating three months into the season while a number other top clubs experienced financial difficulties that led to player and managerial departures and reports of unpaid bills.

Next year's Chinese Super League is set to resume in March, with 30 rounds planned for the 2022 campaign. The league is set to expand from sixteen to eighteen teams.

In the interim Mooy and the Socceroos have two AFC World Cup qualifiers later this month.