Jiangsu close on leaders, Beijing go down

Jiangsu Shuntian closed the gap on Chinese Super League leaders Guangzhou Evergrande after claiming a 2-1 away win over Hangzhou Greentown today. Two early goals from Ji Xiang and Cristian Danalache put the visitors in control and proved enough to earn Jiangsu their third win in four matches despite Hangzhou pulling one back through Song Wang in the 21st minute. Second-placed Jiangsu are now four points behind Evergrande, although the pacesetters can restore their seven-point advantage when they face Guangzhou tomorrow. Third-placed Beijing Guoan were unable to get any closer to the leaders, though, and they are now four points behind Jiangsu after going down 3-1 at Shanghai Shenhua. The home side took control of proceedings through goals from Song Boxuan (20), Yunding Cao (52) and Pinheiro Moises (75) before Beijing netted a late consolation with Wang Xiaolong's 82nd-minute penalty. Guizhou Renhe looked set to climb into the top three in place of Beijing after a late first-half Zlatan Muslimovic strike had them leading 1-0 at Liaoning, however, the home side salvaged a point in the 89th minutes thanks to Yang Shanping's equaliser. Elsewhere, Shandong Luneng beat Changchun Yatai 3-0, with a double from Gilberto and a late effort from Wang Yongpo sealing the victory, while Tianjin Taida and Qingdao Zhongneng shared the points in a 0-0 draw. Finally, Dalian Shide eased past Dalian Aerbin 3-2, with goals from James Chamanga and Martin Kamburov cancelling out efforts from Aerbin duo Yu Dabao and Peter Utaka. From fifa