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Guangzhou Evergrande makes Chinese history with 5 straight titles

By Ma Yue | October 31, 2015, Saturday | Online Edition

A comfortable 2-0 away victory over Beijing Guo’an gave Guangzhou Evergrande the 2015 Chinese Super League title today – the only team to win five straight titles in China’s top tier league.

The championship decider went down to the fire. All the last-round matches kicked off at 3pm. Luiz Felipe Scolari’s team arrived in the capital city holding a two-point advantage over second placed Shanghai SIPG. A draw would have been enough for the defending champion Evergrande to retain the title.

Beijing found Guangzhou a tough nut to crack. The first goal came in the last minute of the first half, when Beijing’s Xu Yunlong committed a foul in the box and Evergrande’s Brazilian midfielder Ricardo Goulart scored from the spot. In the second half, Goulart’s Brazilian compatriot Paulinho found the net past Beijing keeper Yang Zhi to secure the victory, and the title.

Shanghai SIPG was the only other team with a chance of winning the domestic title. It rallied to beat Liaoning Hongyun 2-1 at the Shanghai Stadium. SIPG’s Swedish head coach Sven-Goran Eriksson could not repeat the miracle when his Italian side Lazio won the title 15 years ago. Lazio was two points behind leader Juventus in the 1999-2000 Serie A season entering the final round. Lazio beat Reggina 3-0 on a day Perugia stunned Juventus 1-0.

It was Liaoning which took a surprise lead. Sun Shilin fired a shot from the top of the box to send the ball into the top left corner of SIPG’s goal in the 23rd minute. SIPG’s Argentine midfielder Dario Conca came to the host's rescue in the 33rd minute, firing a similar shot for the equalizer.

SIPG took the lead in the 44th minute when Yu Hai’s shot was blocked by Liaoning goalie Zhang Lu, only for the unmarked Cai Huikang to tap it in. Neither side managed to find the net in the second half.

“Before the league started in March, we did not ask ourselves whether we could finish second, or even fight for the championship till the last round. So I’m happy with the players and fans. We will come back next season, and also play in the Asian Champions League,” Eriksson said after the match.

Evergrande finished with a total of 67 points from 30 matches – with only one loss to Henan in the fourth round. SIPG finished the season at 65, followed by Shandong Luneng (59) and Beijing (56).

Senegal striker Demba Ba scored a hat-trick as Shanghai Greenland Shenhua beat Jiangsu Sainty 3-1 at Hongkou Football Stadium. Shenhua finished the league season in sixth place with 42 points. It will play the same opponent in the home-and-away CFA Cup final matches on November 22 (away) and 29 (home) next month.

SIPG will be playing on the Asian stage for the first time.
“I know there will be a lot of hard work and traveling, but that’s what we want. We will be ready!” Eriksson said.

SIPG captain Sun Xiang was also happy with the season. “We met our goal by finishing second in the league, though I think we could have done better. I do believe we have the ability to achieve a better result next year,” said Sun.

Guizhou Renhe and Shanghai Shenxin were relegated.

Shandong Luneng’s Brazilian striker Aloisio was the top scorer of the 2015 CSL season with a total of 22 goals.

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