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Beijing Renhe Play Two Goalkeepers As Strikers Against Guangzhou Evergrande, Get Leathered 5-0

Beijing Renhe Play Two Goalkeepers As Strikers Against Guangzhou Evergrande, Get Leathered 5-0

A tactical masterclass...

Josh Lawless

Josh Lawless

On the final day of the 2004/05 Premier League season, Stuart Pearce became a footballing revolutionary when he moved David James upfront in an attempt to secure UEFA Cup qualification.

With just two minutes of normal time remaining and City needing a goal, 'Psycho' lived up to his name by replacing midfielder Claudio Reyna with Nicky Weaver and throwing England's No.1 up top to "unsettle" the Middlesbrough backline.

£5 million striker Jon Macken was sat on the bench but Pearce elected to bring in James, who already had an outfield 'No.1' shirt made.

It nearly paid off after City were awarded a last-gasp penalty but Robbie Fowler saw his spot-kick saved by Mark Schwarzer.

However, Pearce's piece of tactical mastery lives on 14 years later through Serbian coach Aleksandar Stanojevic, who manages Beijing Renhe in the Chinese Super League.

Today, they took on Guangzhou Evergrande in the fifth round of the Chinese FA Cup and Stanojevic decided to throw all caution to the wind by fielding THREE goalkeepers in the game.

Mou Pengfei was deployed in his usual role between the sticks by Renhe finished the game with a dream strike partnership of 'keepers Peng Liu and Chen Li.

The former was substituted in at the end of the first half, while Li entered the fray with around eight minutes of the game.

Though they were pummelled 5-0, Renhe didn't concede when they had all three shot-stoppers on the pitch so that would suggest the tactical tweak worked a treat.

In Non-League football next season we'll be seeing a lot of goalkeepers playing outfield as 10 minute sin bins for dissent will be introduced below step four.

If a 'keeper abuses a ref, they are required to enter the sin bin. However, while they are on the sidelines for 10 minutes of the game, an outfield player must take the gloves and shirt and do a quick stint in net.

Then, when the goalkeeper is allowed to head back onto the pitch, he/she must play as an outfield player until a stoppage in play commences and then the position swap can take place.

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Topics: Goalkeepers, Football News, Football, Chinese Super League