GUANGZHOU Evergrande won its fifth straight Chinese Super League (CSL) title Saturday after a Brazilian double gave the side a 2-0 win at Beijing Guoan on a nervy final day of the 2015 season.

    It was an epic battle between two of world soccer’s heavyweight coaches. Phil Scolari’s Evergrande won 2-0 away to Beijing Guoan to finish two points clear of Sven-Goran Eriksson’s Shanghai SIPG.

    The veteran coaches have previously clashed on several occasions in the international arena.

    Scolari’s Brazil knocked Eriksson’s England out of the 2002 World Cup quarterfinals, and the man affectionately known as “Big Phil” repeated the feat with Portugal at both Euro 2004 and the 2006 World Cup.

    The pair resumed their rivalry in China this season when Scolari was named Guangzhou coach back in May, following Eriksson’s appointment to the SIPG hotseat at the end of last year.

    This weekend’s championship conclusion came after a nail-biting final few weeks of the season in which last minute goals in several matches saw both teams fight tooth and nail for the leadership position.

    Guangzhou looked set to seal its fifth consecutive title in front of its own fans last week, only for opponents Shandong to score a late — and clearly offside — equalizer in the 95th minute to draw 2-2, throwing Sven’s SIPG a championship lifeline going into the final weekend of the Chinese season.

    The Cantonese club’s misfortune last week meant SIPG needed to beat lowly Liaoning on Saturday to have any chance of winning its maiden title.

    SIPG did manage to triumph 2-1 after initially going behind in the first half, but the fightback was in vain as it required Beijing to defeat Guangzhou to have any chance of sealing its maiden title.

    Guangzhou’s attention now turns to the Asian Champion’s League final against Al-Ahli of the UAE in a two-legged affair Nov. 7 and 21.(SD-Agencies)