Shandong Luneng coach Branko Ivankovic of Croatia (L) celebrates after his team won the Chinese Super League title Wednesday.SD-Agencies |
The point was all Branko Ivankovic’s men needed to secure the Chinese Super League title, the Croatian manager achieving the feat in his first season with the club.
With two league matches still left to play, Shandong is 10 points ahead of second-placed Shanghai Shenhua.
Honduran midfielder Julio Cesar de Leon grabbed the all-important equalizer with a quarter-of-an-hour left to play, after Chen Zhizhao had put relegation-threatened Nanchang ahead in the 60th minute.
“My players never let complacency hit them throughout the game,” Ivankovic said. “We fought to the bitter end and I would say Shandong deserved the championship.
“Our first-half performance was lackluster but we did well in the second period as we found our form to play fluid football before scoring the equalizer.”
In another CSL match, Shenzhen Maotai Ruby beat visiting Chongqing 3-1.
Shenzhen is 12th in the 16-team league.
(SD-Agencies)
Source: Shenzhen Daily Editor: 洪志科