Dalian crash to third defeat
Shenzhen Jianlibao remain just one point and one place behind Chinese National Football League leaders Yunnan Hongta after extending their unbeaten run to 15 games, but the giants of the mainland, Dalian Shide, are mired in an almost unprecedented slump.
While Shenzhen's 1-1 draw with Liaoning Zhongshun in Fushun continued an unbeaten stretch that began in March, Dalian have now lost three league games in a row. Seven-time champions Dalian have lost to Shanghai Shenhua, Shenyang Ginde and most recently to Sichuan Guancheng 2-0.
Serbian coach Milorad Kosanovic will again face the wrath of the home fans in Dalian's People's Stadium next Sunday, particularly as the visitors are provincial rivals Liaoning Zhongshun. Defeat could produce the unthinkable for a coach who has hardly put a foot wrong since taking over at Dalian in 2000. The 52-year-old has delivered three league titles, an FA Cup, and became the first foreigner to take a provincial side to the National Games, successfully winning the championship for Liaoning.
His side are through to the FA Cup final and are still only four points off first place in the table, but the cries for his dismissal were loud and clear when Dalian lost to Shenyang a week ago.
Such scenes are unthinkable in Shenzhen's City Stadium, where home victories have become a routine for Zhu Guanghu, who is starting to look as relaxed as his loose-fitting shirts.
Away from home 'Real Jianlibao' are also picking up points regularly; Sunday's draw, earned by Li Yi's fifth league goal of the season, was their fourth in six games since the post-Sars resumption.
The acid test comes this weekend when Yunnan come to town for a top-of-the-table clash. Yunnan's goalless draw at home to bottom-of-the-table Shaanxi Gooli was an unexpected bonus for the Guangdong team, who were denied a victory in Yunnan's Tuodong Stadium in Kunming back in March by a last-minute penalty.
However, the league is anything but a two horse race, with even sixth-placed Shenyang still in the hunt after their home game with Shanghai Shenhua became one of last weekend's five games to end in parity - a 1-1 draw. With most sides having 11 matches and a maximum 33 points to play for, it could be argued that Tianjin, Liaoning and Sichuan, the latter fifth from bottom in the 15-team Jia A but still only 11 points behind Yunnan, are not completely out of things.
