Soccer-Shenhua held scoreless as Shanghai Port remain in pole position

Franklin Covey

28/07/2021 17:15

By Michael Church
    HONG KONG, July 28 (Reuters) - Shanghai Shenhua missed the
chance to move a point clear at the top of Group B of the
Chinese Super League on Wednesday as Choi Kang-hee's side were
held to a 0-0 draw by Wuhan FC.
    A win would have seen Shenhua leapfrog cross-city rivals
Shanghai Port after their 1-1 draw earlier in the day with
Beijing Guoan.
    Slaven Bilic's side have now gone three games without a win
and sit in fifth place in the group, five points adrift of
Shanghai Port.
    China international Yu Dabao scored two minutes from time to
salvage a point for Beijing after Wang Shenchao had put Port in
front on the hour mark.
    Changchun Yatai moved up to second - level on 15 points with
Shenhua - with a 4-1 win over Tianjin Tigers while Hebei FC
handed last-placed Dalian Pro a 1-0 loss.
    In Group A, Guangzhou FC sat on top of the standings on
Tuesday after Fabio Cannavaro's side defeated Shandong Taishan
2-1 to move ahead of Hao Wei's team.
    Yang Liyu put Guangzhou ahead five minutes before half time
when his scuffed shot beat goalkeeper Han Rongze while Elkeson
headed in Gao Zhunyi's cross to double the advantage midway
through the second half.
    Pedro Delgado netted three minutes into added time but it
was not enough to stop Guangzhou from pulling level with
Shandong, supplanting them at the summit on goal difference.
    The pair were joined on 18 points by Shenzhen FC after they
handed Qingdao FC a 4-1 thumping with former China
internationals Gao Lin and Sun Ke both on the scoresheet.
    Guangzhou City's poor run of form continued as they
registered a 4-0 loss against Chongqing Athletic which means
Jean-Paul van Gastel's side have not won in five games.
    They are now in fifth and level on 11 points with Henan
Longmen, who won 2-1 against Cangzhou Mighty Lions.
    Teams in this year's Chinese Super League have been divided
into two groups of eight teams, with matches being played in
centralised hubs to limit cross-country travel due to the
pandemic.
    The top four teams in each group advance to the championship
rounds while the bottom four will play in the relegation
playoffs.
    The current phase of the competition runs until Aug. 12 with
the playoffs slated to kick off on Dec. 1.

 (Reporting by Michael Church, Editing by Nick Macfie)
 ((Michael.Church@thomsonreuters.com; +852 9023 4874;))