Pressure mounts on Cannavaro as Guangzhou held, SIPG cuts gap

Imaginechina

Chinese Super League leader Guangzhou Evergrande fought back from two goals down to salvage a point against Henan Jianye on Sunday as speculation mounted over the future of its coach Fabio Cannavaro.

Paulinho's penalty and a 55th-minute header from Wei Shihao ensured the seven-time champion sealed a 2-2 draw with Wang Baoshan's team, but the two points dropped means it now leads defending champion Shanghai SIPG by a solitary point after Vitor Pereira's side secured a 3-0 win over visiting Dalian Yifang.

Guangzhou has won just once in its last nine games in all competitions and, with three matches remaining, speculation is increasing over Italian Cannavaro after Evergrande announced he would attend a "corporate cultural learning session" on Monday.

Cannavaro did not attend the post-match news conference and his post will be filled by club captain Zheng Zhi during his attendance of the course, the Evergrande statement said.

Guangzhou was looking to bounce back from its elimination from the AFC Champions League last Wednesday at the hands of Japan's Urawa Red Diamonds, but it made a poor start when Ivo scored for Henan with less than two minutes on the clock.

Christian Bassogog doubled the visitors' lead 10 minutes before halftime, severely threatening Guangzhou's hopes of reclaiming the title it lost to SIPG last season.

Paulinho pulled one back from the penalty spot six minutes after the restart and Wei levelled four minutes later when he nodded in Elkeson's cross, but Cannavaro's side was unable to find the winner.

SIPG is now only one point behind after  it eased to victory over Rafa Benitez's side, with Li Shenglong and Oscar among the scorers for the Shanghai club.

Beijing Guoan is third, a further point behind, after its 3-1 win over Tianjin Teda on Saturday while Shandong Luneng remains in fourth thanks a 1-1 draw with fifth-placed Jiangsu Suning.

Xie Pengfei gave Jiangsu the lead after 50 minutes and a win for Cosmin Olaroiu's side would have seen it move into fourth, but Dai Lin's stoppage-time leveller ensured Shandong remained one point ahead.

Elsewhere, Israel international striker Eran Zahavi netted his 28th goal of the campaign to equal Brazil-born Chinese striker Elkeson's single-season scoring record set in 2014, but it was not enough to stop Guangzhou R&F falling to a 1-2 loss against Hebei China Fortune.

Shenzhen FC remains in the relegation zone after sharing eight goals with Wuhan Zall in a 4-4 thriller and Tianjin Tianhe was held to a 2-2 draw by bottom side Beijing Renhe.

Jordi Cruyff's Chongqing Lifan, meanwhile, now sits in seventh place following its 1-0 win over Shanghai Greenland Shenhua on Friday thanks to a solitary goal from Alan Kardec.