AFTER beating Hebei China Fortune 3-1 in the 29th round of the Chinese Super League (CSL) on Wednesday, Guangzhou Evergrande needs just a draw in their final match to claim the 2019 CSL title.

However, the title fight between the seven-time champions and Beijing Guoan remains open after Guoan’s 4-1 victory over Guangzhou R&F.

In their match against Hebei, Evergrande dictated the pace right from the kickoff. Talisca broke the deadlock in the 11th minute after Paulinho and Zhong Yihao had already gone close, with Paulinho also missing a one-on-one chance a few minutes later.

However, the Brazilian midfielder finally turned his attacking intent into a goal in the 41st minute when he collected Talisca’s pass and finished superbly past Hebei goalkeeper Chi Wenyi.

Clearly buoyed by his goal, Paulinho netted another in the 57th minute to make it 3-0 to Evergrande. Hebei managed to pull a goal back through Ezequiel Lavezzi’s header in the dying minutes, but Guangzhou’s victory was long secured by then.

Evergrande head coach Fabio Cannavaro said after the match that he was satisfied with his players’ performances, but cautioned that he hoped his charges would stay focused for their crucial final CSL match against Shanghai Shenhua.

Elsewhere in Guangzhou, Beijing Guoan had no choice but to attack, and the first half in their match against Guangzhou R&F saw four goals, three of which came from the visitors. Renato Augusto started the rout with a superb strike in the 27th minute, before Cedric Bakambu added two more to put Guoan 3-0 up inside the first half.

Guangzhou pulled one back before half-time through Dia Saba’s long range strike, but Zhang Yuning’s goal at the beginning of the second half restored Guoan’s three-goal cushion.

In other games Wednesday, Shanghai SIPG drew 1-1 with Beijing Renhe, ending their hopes of defending their CSL title, while Shenzhen FC was relegated with one game to spare after a 3-3 draw with Henan Jianye. Elsewhere, Tianjin Tianhai trounced Dalian Yifang 5-1. Shandong Luneng won 3-1 against Tianjin TEDA. Wuhan Zall defeated Chongqing Siwei 1-0, and Jiangsu Suning beat Shanghai Shenhua 3-1.

(Xinhua)