Middling team Chongqing Lifan FC nipped reeling squad Yanbian Funde FC, 2-1, in a 2016 Chinese Super League game held at their home field of Chongqing Olympic Sports Center last Friday.

With the win, head coach Chang Woe-ryong's side has climbed right in the middle of the 16-team China top flight table, at the 8th spot, as the team had won five of their last nine matches.

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It was an almost scoreless first half for both squads until Brazilian forward Fernandinho broke the deadlock with two minutes left before the halftime break with a low strike off an assist by local midfielder Wu Qing, via Soccerway.

Chongqing then doubled the lead at the 69th minute with a penalty kick by another Brazilian, striker Alan Kardec, as the hosts surprisingly coasted in the match while being the pre-game underdogs.

Yanbian was able to score a consolation goal, though, to avoid a shutout. Substitute striker Jin Bo found the back of Chongqing shot stopper Deng Xiaofei's net in injury time to deny Chongqing a clean sheet.

The newly-promoted club actually missed the chance to score the opening goal at the 34th minute when the header of South Korean striker Ha Tae-goon clanged off the goal post of Deng, as per Xinhuanet.

The loss was the second straight for head coach Park Tae-ha's squad and their third consecutive winless performance as well after a 1-1 tie with Shanghai SIPG on Aug. 13 and a 0-1 defeat to then bottom-dwellers Changchun Yatai on Aug. 21 before the international break.

Yanbian has now dropped at the ninth spot of the current league table. The team is tied on points with Beijing Guoan and Liaoning Whowin with 29 points each, but they have a superior goal difference of +2 as compared to the +1 and -5 of the said two teams respectively.

Chongqing is only one point ahead of the three squads with 30 points, 11 points below the third and final AFC Champions League berth for next season presently held by Shanghai Greenland Shenhua. The team still has a mathematical shot of earning an ACL spot with six games left in their campaign this term.

TagsChina Football, Chinese Super League, Chinese Super League news, Chongqing Lifan FC, Yanbian Funde FC