Chengdu blow 12-point lead to miss out on Chinese title on final day

Published6 hours ago

Chengdu Rongcheng lost a fourth successive game to give up a 12-point lead and throw away the Chinese Super League title.

A 3-2 loss on the final day to Shandong Taishan, combined with a 3-1 win for Dalian Yingbo against Tianjin Tiger, meant John Aloisi's side missed out on the Li Guozu trophy.

It was a remarkable finale for Chengdu, who picked up just one point from their last five matches, while Dalian collected 15 from 15.

Both sides finished level on 52 points, but Dalian took the title with a better head-to-head record which included a victory over Chengdu in the penultimate game of the season.

The title-race collapse will go down as one of the worst in football history, especially with the faltering finish from the side led by Australian Aloisi, who had spells at Portsmouth and Coventry City during his playing career.

Kevin Keegan's Newcastle United famously gave up a 12-point lead to Manchester United in 1995-96 to miss out on the Premier League, while the Red Devils also blew a 12-point advantage over Arsenal in the 1997-98 campaign.

Despite their dreadful run of form, the title was still very much in Chengdu's hands going into the final day.

A point would have been enough to crown them champions, but they found themselves 2-0 down within the opening 25 minutes as Raphael Merkies and Guilherme Madruga scored.

Felipe Silva replied, but Cryzan restored Shandong's two-goal lead.

Former Arsenal forward Wellington Silva gave Aloisi's side hope again with 11 minutes left, but they were unable to find the all-important equaliser.

That outcome left Dalian needing a win in front of their own fans to secure a remarkable title triumph.

They were in front inside five minutes through Yang Mingrui, but Xadas levelled with a 50th-minute penalty.

Liao Jintao, though, restored the lead with 20 minutes to go before a close-range strike from Huang Shan in stoppage time sealed the success and the title.

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