Chengdu Rongcheng suffered a dramatic collapse in the closing stages of the Chinese Super League, losing all four of their final matches of the season and thus failing to win the championship. The team of John Aloisius, the Australian manager with experience at Portsmouth and Coventry City, won only one point in their last five games, which proved decisive for their failure.
In the final round, Chengdu Rongcheng lost 3-2 to Shandong Taishan, despite leading 2-0 within the first 25 minutes. The scorers for Shandong were Raphael Merkies and Guilherme Madruga, and Cryzan increased the lead to 3-1. For Chengdu, Felipe Silva and Wellington Silva, the former Arsenal striker, scored, with the latter reducing the deficit to 3-2 with 11 minutes remaining, but they failed to equalise.
Meanwhile, Dalian Yingbo, who won a maximum of 15 points from 15 available in their last five matches, beat Tianjin Tiger 3-1. Yang Mingrui put Dalian in the lead within the first five minutes, and Liao Jintao increased the advantage with 20 minutes to go. Xadas equalised for Tianjin from a penalty in the 50th minute, but Huang Shan made it 3-1 in stoppage time to secure the title for Dalian Yingbo.
Both clubs finished the season with an equal number of points, 52 each, but Dalian Yingbo won the league thanks to a better head-to-head record, including a victory over Chengdu in the penultimate match of the season. Failing to win the title after having a 12-point lead is considered one of the worst collapses in football history. Chengdu Rongcheng thus remained without the Li Guozu trophy, which they could have won with a point in the final match, but they failed to maintain their lead and secure the title.
