BEIJING, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- Infected with the "FIFA virus," Chinese Super League (CSL) frontrunners Guangzhou Evergrande suffered a 3-1 defeat to Jiangsu Suning in an away game to end their 15-game unbeaten run in the 24th round of the CSL on Friday.
The CSL top three (Guangzhou Evergrande, Beijing Guoan and Shanghai SIPG) contributed 18 national team players for the Team China on their way beating Maldives 5-0 in World Cup qualifications on Tuesday, and all were obviously affected by the fatigue of players after the international break, which is known as the "FIFA Virus."
In addition to the shock defeat of the Guangzhou powerhouse, Beijing Guoan were held to a 1-1 tie by Shenzhen Jiazhaoye, while Shanghai SIPG lost to Shandong Luneng 3-1.
"I am not happy. All the problems I worried about international break reflected on the pitch," Guangzhou Evergrande head coach Fabio Cannavaro said. "The league title racing is very tough, we can't relax now. Players need to work harder."
The seven-time league title winners were stunned by the home team in the 37th minutes after Alex Teixeira assisted Eder Martins to score the opening goal.
Yang Liyu, the 22-year-old Chinese international, forced Joao Miranda to commit an own goal to tie the game at the 61st minute, but Teixeira and Wang Song added two winners for Jiangsu at the 69th and 98th minutes respectively.
After the loss, Guangzhou now have a four-point advantage on the CSL table with six more rounds remaining with the capital team Guoan being held to a draw by the Shenzhen side.
Gan Chao scored in a counterattack in the 15th minute, taking an early lead for Shenzhen. Cedric Bakambu got the equalizer in the 74th minute but missed an open goal four minutes later.
Two goals from Beijing Guoan were disallowed during the game due to balls being outside and offside respectively after the referee had checked the VAR.
"My players who played for the national team were a little bit tired today. It was a pity that we didn't win. On the other hand, the result is positive since Guangzhou lost," said Beijing Guoan head coach Bruno Genesio.
Elsewhere, defending champions Shanghai SIPG were 3-0 behind Shandong Luneng after 31 minutes of play. The SIPG players woke up when Hulk scored in the 32nd minute. Both sides had chances in the second half but missed them all.
"We should have 100 percent focused on the pitch, but unfortunately we didn't," SIPG captain Hulk said after the match.
In the second leg of the Asian Champions League quarterfinal about to kick off next week, Guangzhou Evergrande will face Kashima Antlers and Shanghai SIPG will meet the Urawa Reds.
