It was a round where sides helped out their crosstown rivals, with Guangzhou R&F’s defeat of Beijing meaning the red side of Guangzhou now has a seven point lead in the league standings, while at the other side of the table, Shanghai East Asia’s defeat of Henan will help Shenxin not lose ground, despite a crushing defeat. Speaking of the other side of the table, Liaoning’s extra time equalizer in Harbin could mark the beginning of the end for Yiteng. Tonight sees one more match, as Shanghai Shenhua host Changchun Yatai.
Dalian Aerbin 1-2 Guangzhou Evergrande
Evergrande just keeps finding ways to win. At Dalian, the first half ended scoreless, but things really began to open up in the second, early on Gilardino found the back of the net, though Aerbin responded 10 minutes later. However, it was a late goal by the Italian, who headed in a Zhang Linpeng cross, that secured all three points for Guangzhou and took their lead to seven points.
Guangzhou R&F 3-1 Beijing Guoan
There aren’t many worse places to go than Guangzhou in the middle of summer. Once again an away trip to R&F has derailed Guoan, this time around they once again fell 3-1 to Guangzhou (it seems that’s the scoreline of this fixture every year). Sven had his side purely in a counter attacking mindset and it paid off, catching Guoan off guard for the first two goals, while the third saw Yang Zhi flat footed. A tough night in the heat and humidity for the Beijingers.
Shandong Luneng 4-0 Shanghai Shenxin
With so much tension building up in Jinan, they finally found a release with the weak Shenxin coming to town. Vagner Love was big, scoring twice and assisting on yet another in a match that was all Luneng, their first win in seven matches. For Shenxin, it will be a bit of a nightmare and make their fight to stay up just a little harder.
Tianjin Teda 1-2 Jiangsu Sainty
Cao Yang doesn’t score that often, so when he does he gets very excited, perhaps too much so. Last night was the second time in two seasons when he tore off his jersey to celebrate a goal, getting a yellow card that would cost him. Jiangsu struck first, late in the first half, though Tianjin responded through the aforementioned Cao on the other side of the half. However, Cao would see a second yellow on the hour mark, leaving his side down a man, something Sainty took advantage of, finding a winner in the 68th minute.
Guizhou Renhe 2-1 Hangzhou Greentown
Hyuri remains hot. After Greentown opened up scoring, Hyuri equalized with a great goal just before the half. The home side would add another from a corner kick in the second half, with Zhang Chenglin slotting home a rare goal.
Harbin Yiteng 2-2 Liaoning Whowin
If Harbin find that their time in the CSL only lasts one year, fans will be sitting in the pub lamenting this match for years to come. Harbin opened up scoring when an off target shot turned into a great pass and Bu Xin knocked it past the keeper. Liaoning would equalize later in the half through a Ding Ke goal. Nearing the 70th minute mark, Harbin would once again take the lead, this time it was a Rodrigo effort, but minutes later Bu would go from hero to villain, a horrible tackle meant he saw red, reducing the Ice City side to 10 men. Just when it looked like Harbin would hang on and take all three points in a crucial relegation battle, James Chamanga stepped in to save Liaoning with a 93rd minute equalizer.
Shanghai East Asia 1-0 Henan Jianye
Things stayed even in this one for a long time, but East Asia found a way to win, as has been the case all year long, it was Wu Lei who was the hero of the match, finding a late winner, a result that makes Henan’s fight to stay in the CSL just a little more harder.
