Jiangsu Suning keep pressure on Guangzhou Evergrande for chamipion-hunting

With three rounds to go, the defending champions Guangzhou Evergrande cannot claim their sixth consecutive champions yet as the runners-up Jiangsu Suning beat Shanghai SIPG 2-1 at home in the 27th round of the Chinese Super League (CSL) on Saturday.

Jiangsu Suning was 7 points left behind by the top-place dominator Guangzhou Evergrande and only the victory will keep their hope of competing for the league champion, while the visiting team Shanghai SIPG also need as many points as posible for the qualification of next season's AFC Champions League.

Neither team managed to gain a goal in the first half, but Shanghai SIPG suffered an early substitution as Brazilian striker Elkeson injured his left arm in the 21st minute and had to leave eary, crying.

After a scoreless tie in the first half, Brazilian striker Alex Teixeira broke the deadlock for Jiangsu Suning in the 46th minute, and nine minutes later Wu Xi's shot enlarged the gap to 2-0.

Shanghai SIPG hit back in the 63rd minute when Hulk got passing by Jean Evrard Kouassi in the penalty area and shot the ball into the net.

Shanghai SIPG showed great attempt of equalizer in the last 30 minutes, but missed an excellent opportunity as Roger Martinez' penalty kicking was stopped by the goalkeeper and Xie Pengfei's follow shot was ruled out by the refugee.

On the other hand, Guangzhou Evergrande harvested a great victory against Shijiazhuang Ever Bright 6-0 as the defending champions had 5 goals in hand in the first half.

Yianbian lost to the visiting Tianjin Teda 2-1 at home early this afternoon.

The other five matches of the 27th round will kick off on Sunday. Endit