Shanghai Seaport returned to the top of the league with a narrow 1-0 away win over Cangzhou Lions thanks to Wu Lei's match-winning goal, leaving open the possibility of winning the title in the final round of matches. The fixtures show that Shanghai Shenhua will be away to Chengdu Rongcheng, while Shanghai Seaport will face Tianjin Jinmen Tiger at home. Looking at the home and away factors and overall strength of both sides, Shanghai Seaport seems to have the upper hand. Once they can beat Tianjin Jinmen Tiger at home, the trophy will be in their pocket again.
In the relegation battle, Nantong Jiyun fell behind by two goals at halftime, and despite fighting to recover a goal in the second half, they eventually lost 1-3 at home and were relegated in the early rounds, and became the first team to enter the Chinese A-League.
Although Meizhou Hakka was in the relegation zone before, they won three valuable points with a 1-0 home win over Wuhan Sanzhen, and temporarily got out of the relegation crisis. However, they will challenge the strong Shandong Taishan in the final round, and if they lose, the risk of relegation still exists. Shandong Taishan has become the judge of their life and death.
After 90 minutes of fierce fighting, Shenzhen New Pengcheng drew 2-2 away to Shanghai Shenhua. In the final round, they will face the relegated Nantong Zhiyun at home. If they can win three points, they still have a chance of survival.
Although Qingdao Hainiu failed to recover from a late offside call, they were defeated 0-1 by Tianjin Jinmen Tiger in Shenzhen Xinpengcheng. With the loss, Qingdao Hainiu are now 14th in Shenzhen New Pengcheng, and will be relegated if they can beat Cangzhou Lions at home in the final round. Tianjin Jinmen Tigers, on the other hand, realized their dream of winning six consecutive matches at home.
Qingdao West Coast completed relegation early after a 1-1 draw at home to Chengdu Rongcheng.
Zhejiang was under no pressure as they battled Shandong Taishan, who made light work of the match and shook hands 3-3 in a goal-scoring battle. On the other side, Henan drew 0-0 with Changchun Yatai on the road, with no goals scored by either side.
