[4] On 24 January, Guoan played Portuguese fourth-tier club Louletano and won 3–1 thanks to goals from Fábio Abreu, Zhang Xizhe, and Wang Ziming.

[14] The league calendar was also announced on 8 February, and Guoan is set to start of the season with 3 away games against Cangzhou Mighty Lions, Shangdong Tainshan, and Wuhan Three Towns respectively.

In the third minute of added time in the second half, Adegbenro was tripped inside Cangzhou's box and won a penalty, which substitute Yang Liyu finished with a powerful shot up high.

[25] Wang Gang, who started the game but was substituted off in the 60th minute due to having been subjected to two strong tackles from Shandong players, was confirmed on 10 March to have suffered a hairline fracture of his fibula in his left leg and is expected to be absent from the team for 2 months.

Hainiu scored first, but Zhang Xizhe leveled with a direct free kick, and a Fang Hao assist for Abreu helped turn the game around.

She died a few days after the match, and Guoan CEO Zhou Jinhui announced that her seat in the Workers' Stadium will not accommodate other supporters in the future.

A Port goal was ruled off in the 33rd minute as the referee judged the attacking player roughed goalkeeper Hou Sen. At halftime, Soares replaced Lin Liangming with Adegbenro.

In the 39th minute, Zhang Yuning scored off of a Cao Yongjing cross, but the latter was judged to have committed a foul on a Shenzhen player in the attacking action and the goal was thus ruled out after review.

However, despite bringing on multiple attacking players, Guoan ultimately failed to make additional inroads, and ended the match with a 1–2 loss, the team's first of the season.

Keen to finally win at home, Ngadeu-Ngadjui headed the ball into the net on the end of a Zhang Xizhe free kick in just the 6th minute, giving Guoan a 1–0 lead.

Guoan started the game with energy as the team sought to halt its three-game losing streak against Zhejiang, but was quickly pegged back for the majority of the first half.

Guoan was dealt a blow in the 15th minute with Zhang Yuan sent off after a video review judged him of having committed a violent foul on a Tianjin player.

A He Yupeng crossed missed everyone and reached Adebgenro on the far side of the pitch, and Adegbenro floated the ball back into the box for the onrushing Cao Yongjing to slice into Tianjin's goal for a Guoan lead.

Despite an onslaught by Tianjin, Guoan held on to the 1–0 lead thanks to 8 saves from Hou Sen, extending the team's cross-season undefeated away run to a record-high 12 games.

In the 12th minute, Guga intercepted the ball and drove it forward to the edge of the penalty area, and then launched a shot that went above the goalkeeper and into the net for a Guoan lead.

Soares opted to attack and swapped He Yupeng for Fang Hao in the 38th minute, but Guoan conceded again in the 45th with Hou Sen failing to get ahold of a Meizhou cross, allowing Wang Jia'nan to tap the ball into the goal.

[49] With Guoan's starters on the left flank, namely Li Lei, Zhang Yuning and Lin Liangming, all injured, Soares rotated the squad, starting Jiang Wenhao, Yu Dabao, Cao Yongjing, and Feng Boxuan.

In the 88th minute, a Fang Hao header at the end of a Nebijan Muhmet's cross was pushed away by Nantong's keeper but fell luckily to Abreu, who finished for a 4–2 Guoan lead.

Henan generated many chances in the first half, hitting the crossbar just 5 minutes into the game and threatened Hou Sen's goal multiple times.

In the 20th minute, Suzhou's Xiang Rongjun was sent off for a foul from behind on Lin Liangming, and Zhang Xizhe placed the resulting free kick in the top right corner for a 1–0 Guoan lead.

[57] Riding on the cup victory, Guoan returned home to face Cangzhou Mighty Lions on 26 June to start the back half of the league campaign.

In the 33rd minute, Wuhan's Deng Hanwen, who had injured Li Lei with an earlier tackle, was sent off with a red card after a rough foul on Adegbenro.

in the 94th minute, Li Ke assisted Abreu for a headed goal, but Guoan failed to make additional progress, losing to Wuhan 1–2 at home.

Despite Port hitting the crossbar early on in the game, Guoan took the lead in the 13th minute with Lin Liangming nodding home a Zhang Xizhe corner.

Later, it was reported that CEO Zhou Jinhui was angry about the team's disappointing performance and recent form, and demanded the coaching staff to make immediate adjustments.

In the 73rd minute, an Ngadeu back pass lacked power and was intercepted by Shenzhen player, forcing Han Jiaqi to commit a foul and give away a penalty.

In the 98th minute, Zhang Xizhe, recovering from injury as a crucial substitute, slid a pass to Wang Ziming, who dropped a Shenhua defender before scoring and settling the game at 2–1 for Guoan.

Li Lei was carded in just 5 minutes, but Lin Liangming drew first blood for Guoan in the 25th after an Abreu through ball cut through West Coast's defensive line.

[75] He later posted on his personal social media account stating that he never hit the opposition player in the face and called the additional match ban "difficult to accept.

In the second half, Guoan scored 4 unanswered goals with Abreu completing his hat trick with another penalty in the 51st, Fang Hao in the 72nd, and Wang Ziming in the 88th and 94th minute.