This study examined whether travel direction, travel distance, opponent strength and match-site thermal conditions were associated with the performance of away teams in the Chinese Super League. Data from 701 away matches from 2017 to 2019 were obtained from Amisco Pro. Seventeen technical and physical indicators were reduced by principal component analysis to four match-performance dimensions, accounting for 67.9% of the variance. Linear mixed-effects models were estimated for away-team goal difference and for each dimension, with travel category, geodesic distance, pre-match Elo difference, temperature, relative humidity and their interaction specified in a single model. Neither travel category (F(3, 150.9) = 1.19, p = .317) nor geodesic distance (β = 0.066 goals per SD, 95% CI [−0.101, 0.233]) was clearly associated with goal difference. A 1-SD increase in home-minus-away pre-match Elo difference was associated with a 0.771-goal reduction in away-team goal difference (95% CI [−0.912, −0.630]). Higher temperature (β = −0.455 SD, 95% CI [−0.556, −0.353]) and relative humidity (β = −0.142 SD, 95% CI [−0.217, −0.067]) were associated with lower running volume and high-speed activity, with a negative temperature-by-humidity interaction (β = −0.135 SD, 95% CI [−0.191, −0.079]). Thermal conditions were not clearly associated with goal difference. Northward and southward journeys involved substantial origin-to-destination thermal contrasts, but these provided no clear information beyond match-site conditions.

This study examined whether acute exercise performed within individualized physiological intensity zones affects multidimensional soccer shooting performance. Twenty male collegiate soccer players completed a Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test Level 1 with portable gas analysis to determine the ventilatory threshold (VT) and respiratory compensation point (RCP). Three individualized zones were defined: Low (RCP). In a randomized design, players completed three 3 min shuttle-running bouts, each followed immediately by the 356 Soccer Shooting Test. Ball velocity (BV), shooting accuracy (SA), and shooting quality (SQ) were analyzed using repeated-measures ANOVA. Exercise condition significantly affected SA (p = 0.013) and SQ (p = 0.007), but not BV (p = 0.216). Bonferroni-adjusted comparisons showed that SA and SQ were lower in High than in Low, whereas no pairwise BV comparison reached significance. A sensitivity analysis using all ten recorded attempts rather than the original best-seven scoring approach showed an overall condition effect for BV without a significant pairwise comparison, retained overall effects for SA and SQ, and showed that the Low–High contrast remained robust only for SQ. Baseline comparisons were not significant. These findings indicate condition-specific shooting responses, with the clearest evidence for lower SQ after High compared with Low, supportive evidence for lower SA, and no significant primary condition effect for BV.