Football
Reuters 6y

Chongqing Lifan battle to Guangzhou R&F draw, Beijing Renhe fight back for point

Chongqing Lifan coach Jordi Cruyff said he was satisfied with his side's 1-1 draw against Guangzhou R&F on Sunday, but the point earned did little to alleviate the club's Chinese Super League (CSL) relegation fears.

Huang Zhengyu's own goal just before the hour gave struggling Chongqing the lead only for R&F striker Xiao Zhi to level 10 minutes later with a header.

"To be honest, we're satisfied with a point," Cruyff, who took over as head coach in August, said.

"We were not at our best. We gave away possession of the ball too easily. Although we are not happy with the process, as a team in the relegation battle we are satisfied with the result."

The draw leaves Chongqing 14th in the 16-team CSL, two points ahead of Henan Jianye in the relegation zone.

Also on Sunday, Beijing Renhe fought back from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Tianjin Teda thanks to efforts from Makhete Diop and Ajub Masika as both clubs strengthened their hopes of avoiding the drop.

The pair, however, are well adrift of league leaders Shanghai SIPG, who secured a comfortable 3-1 win over Changchun Yatai to remain four points clear of second-placed Guangzhou Evergrande and on course for their first league title.

Evergrande had to fight back from going two down inside the first eight minutes against Jiangsu Suning thanks to goals from Eder and Li Ang.

Fabio Cannavaro's side secured a 3-2 win on them in the title race with seven games to go after they had slipped to defeat by SIPG earlier in the week.

Paulinho halved the deficit against Jiangsu before a brace from Anderson Talisca ensured Evergrande kept pace with Vitor Pereira's side.

Beijing Guoan fell further adrift with a 3-2 loss to bottom of the table Guizhou Zhicheng and are now seven points behind SIPG.

That result allowed Shandong Luneng to close in again on the top three -- and a berth in next year's Asian Champions League -- thanks to a 4-1 win over relegation-threatened Henan Jianye.

Tianjin Quanjian's struggles continued following their midweek exit from the Asian Champions League, with Paulo Sousa seeing his team lose 2-0 to Hebei China Fortune.

Tianjin, who finished third in last year's standings to qualify for the continental championship for the first time in the club's history, are in 12th place after goals from Ezequiel Lavezzi and Dong Xuesheng.

Second division champions Dalian Yifang continued their impressive late-season form and are now in 10th place following a 2-1 win over Shanghai Shenhua.

Nyasha Mushekwi scored twice as Dalian continued a run that has seen them go five league games unbeaten, with victories in their last three games.

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