Title Race Intense After Dalian Shide LosesThe race for the season's title tends to get down to the wire as the league leaders Dalian Shide has their winning momentum stopped by Tianjin Taida at home in the 20th round of the Chinese first division soccer league on Sunday.Taida overcame one goal deficit to beat Shide 2-1, keeping a clean record against the league-leading club this season. They edged Shide 1-0 at home court in the seventh round match. Shide retained its league leading position with 45 points but failed to pull away from the closest rival Shanghai Shenhua which pulled off a 2-1 victory over Shenyang Haishi. Shenhua, which now ranked second with 41 points, will keep heat on Shide in a two-horse title race after the reigning champion Shandong Luneng lost 2-0 to Jilin Aodong, which is struggling at the bottom with 16 points. Luneng, which stormed to its first title in club history last season, has suffered their second straight loss and now stands third with 35 points. On the other end of the standings, Xiamen Xiaxin remains languishing after they tied with Sichuan Quanxin 2-2 at home court. They ranks second from bottom on 17 points. Qingdao Hainiu slid further after they lost 1-4 away to Beijing Guo'an. With only 19 points from 20 matches, their chance of staying in the first division next season becomes cloudy. In other matches of the day, Liaoning Fushun beat Yunnan Hongta 2-1 at home and Shenzhen Ping'an forced Chongqing Longxin to a 2-2 road tie. |
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