Chengdu surrender 12-point lead as Dalian win Chinese Super League on final day
Chengdu Rongcheng surrendered a 12-point lead and missed out on the Chinese Super League title on the final day of the season after Dalian Yingbo secured the championship.
Chengdu lost four successive matches down the stretch, taking just one point from their last five games, while Dalian collected 15 from 15; both clubs finished level on 52 points. John Aloisi's side therefore missed out on the Li Guozu trophy; Aloisi is Australian and had spells at Portsmouth and Coventry City during his playing career.
A point on the final day would have been enough for Chengdu, but they fell 3-2 to Shandong Taishan. Chengdu were 2-0 down within the opening 25 minutes after Raphael Merkies and Guilherme Madruga scored; Felipe Silva pulled a goal back before Cryzan restored Shandong's two-goal cushion, and former Arsenal forward Wellington Silva reduced the deficit with 11 minutes remaining but Chengdu could not find an equaliser.
Dalian needed a win in front of their own fans and delivered a 3-1 victory over Tianjin Tiger to clinch the title. Yang Mingrui put Dalian in front inside five minutes, Xadas levelled from the penalty spot on 50 minutes, Liao Jintao restored the lead with around 20 minutes left, and a close-range strike from Huang Shan in stoppage time sealed the success.
Both sides finished the campaign on 52 points, but Dalian were crowned champions owing to a superior head-to-head record that included a 1-0 victory over Chengdu in the penultimate game of the season. Chengdu's late-season slump — four straight defeats and one point from five matches — proved decisive in the title race.
The title-race collapse was described in the report as "one of the worst in football history", with comparisons drawn to Kevin Keegan's Newcastle United relinquishing a 12-point lead to Manchester United in 1995-96 and Manchester United surrendering a 12-point advantage to Arsenal in 1997-98.
Dalian Yingbo claimed the Li Guozu trophy following their 3-1 final-day win, while John Aloisi's Chengdu Rongcheng finished as runners-up after their run of poor results cost them the championship.
