Six Championship Points Missed: Dalian Yingbo Stuns Chengdu Rongcheng 1-0
Chengdu Rongcheng needed a home win over relegation-battling Dalian Yingbo to clinch the Chinese Super League title. A saved penalty, a Mamadou header, and a sixth missed championship point later, the race goes to the final round.
For the sixth time this season, Chengdu Rongcheng arrived at a match knowing a win would make them Chinese Super League champions — and for the sixth time, the party was called off. Dalian Yingbo, fighting for their survival, won 1-0 at Chengdu's own stadium on Thursday in round 29, and the title race, presumed over weeks ago, will be settled on the final day. (@英国足球那点事)
The manner of it was almost cruel. Chengdu dominated the first half: a flying volley from Yang Mingyang rattled the crossbar inside ten minutes, and late in the half striker Felipe won a penalty — then saw it saved by Dalian goalkeeper Liu Weiguo, who pulled off a second stunning stop in first-half stoppage time to deny Hu Hetao. After the break the visitors struck, defender Mamadou climbing highest to head in on 66 minutes, and Dalian's defense held firm for the remainder. (@咪咕足球, @直播吧)
The scoreboard graphic a Dalian-supporting Weibo account shared afterward tells the story of the table: with one round left, Chengdu still lead the league, but their margin has shrunk to the point where next week's trip to Shandong Taishan decides everything. (@北漂男孩爱辽篮) The list of squandered chances has become a running national joke — a 0-0 away at Henan in September, a last-minute home defeat to Tianjin, a 3-0 thrashing by Shanghai Port last weekend, and now this — six championship points missed in ten weeks.
In Dalian, a port city whose football history stretches back to the early days of Chinese league football, the result carried the weight of that heritage. "As a born-and-raised Dalian native, I am so, so excited right now," one supporter wrote, posting photos from the celebration. (@杨鸣12) The veteran football journalist Ma Dexing put it more pointedly: "Brilliant, Dalian — 1-0 over Chengdu, and the title suspense continues. After losing last round, do Chengdu still have any fight in them? Beaten at home again, a penalty missed — they can only blame themselves." (@马德兴)
There is a qualifying note: even after all six stumbles, Chengdu control their own destiny. Win at Shandong next week and the championship is theirs regardless. But the pattern has hardened into something psychological as much as statistical — a team that has missed every opportunity to end the season on its own terms, now facing the last one away from home against a club with a reason of its own to spoil the party.