Football
Michael Church, Asia correspondent 7y

Tianjin Quanjian's Asian Champions League hopes hit by another loss

Tianjin Quanjian lost a second game in a row as their hopes of securing a place in next year's Asian Champions League suffered a setback.

Fabio Cannavaro's side were beaten 1-0 by Jiangsu Suning in the Chinese Super League on Thursday evening, when a win would have taken them into third place ahead of Hebei CFFC.

A solitary goal from former Chelsea man Ramires was enough to seal victory for Jiangsu and put Fabio Capello's team seven points clear of the relegation zone.

Quanjian, who had Pei Shuai sent off in the final minute, remain fourth, two points behind Hebei, and Cannavaro said: "We should have won 2-0 in the first half, but we ended up like this.

"However, compared with the last game we improved the game quality and control of the ball. We had some highlight moments.

"Unfortunately, we still conceded a goal due to our set-piece defensive flaws and we had a player sent off. It is a bitter game for us.

"I can't say we should have nailed it down 100 percent, but it shouldn't haven't been like this."

Capello was delighted with the result, which moved last year's runners-up closer to safety.

"This was a very entertaining match," the former England manager said. "The process was very difficult and challenging. Both sides showed high quality.

"Our team was more focused and had stronger desire in each battle. I'm very satisfied with my players' fighting spirit."

Tianjin Teda, meanwhile, cruised to a 3-1 win over Guizhou Zhicheng to open up a three-point gap between themselves and 15th-placed Yanbian Funde in the battle to avoid relegation.

^ Back to Top ^