Liu equaliser ensures champions Shandong stay on Wuhan's tail

HONG KONG : Liu Yang struck midway through the second half to ensure defending champions Shandong Taishan remained in touch with Chinese Super League leaders Wuhan Three Towns as the teams shared a 1-1 draw in Jinan on Wednesday.

Wuhan continue to lead the standings by four points from second-placed Shandong with the newly-promoted outfit having played one game fewer than Hao Wei's title-holders.

Gao Zhunyi put Wuhan in front in the 28th minute as the Pedro Morilla-coached outfit sought a 15th win in 16 games this season, only for Liu to ensure the teams shared the points.

The result is the first time in 14 games Wuhan have failed to take all three points and moves the club onto 44 points for the campaign.

The game was only the second played by Wuhan since the end of August after the Chinese Super League schedule was hit by a series of postponements due to several COVID-19 outbreaks that have impacted on fixtures.

The Chinese government's ongoing attempts to impose a zero-COVID strategy across the country has seen games moved or postponed at short-notice since the season resumed following the mid-season break for the East Asian Championship in July.

Meanwhile, third placed Henan Longmen slipped further off the pace of the top two when they were handed a 1-0 defeat by Tianjin Tigers to now sit 14 points behind Wuhan.

Henan are level on 30 points with Meizhou Hakka following their 0-0 draw with Zhejiang FC while Beijing Guoan moved up to eighth with a 3-1 win over Hebei FC.

Meanwhile, Li Yongjia scored the only goal of the game as Guangzhou City defeated cross-city rivals and eight-time champions Guangzhou FC 1-0, with both clubs still languishing in the relegation zone of the 18-team division.