Promoted Qingdao end Beijing's winning streak in Chinese Super League

SUZHOU, China - Starting with an easily gained 3-0 lead in the first 30 minutes, Beijing Guoan were finally held to a draw by the newly promoted Qingdao Huanghai 3-3 in the fifth round of the Chinese Super League (CSL) here on Sunday, and their four-game winning streak was ended.

In the 16th minute, Alan Douglas's close-range shot was cleared out of the line by the Huanghai keeper, which gave the Beijing-based side a corner.

On the attacking wave created by this corner, Guoan's Cedric Bakambu hit the open net by a following shot after the keeper beat out Hou Yongyong's volley.

Although the Qingdao side retreated all 10 players into their own half field, Alan Douglas scored the second goal for Guoan in the 21st minute. Nine minutes later, Hou Yongyong drove the ball home again through a following shot as his own header was beaten out by the keeper.

However, the suspense of the game continued as the Qingdao side pulled back two goals before the first half ended.

In Huanghai's fast counterattack in the 41st minute, Zhu Jianrong was fouled by Guoan's Lv Peng, which gifted the Qingdao side a penalty. Romain Alessandrini then calmly scored with a grounder. Four minutes later, Zhu Jianrong added another goal for Huanghai by a header.

Although Guoan continued to attack, they didn't get any real chances in the second half.

In the 72nd minute, Alessandrini made a stunning long-drive in another fast counterattack, leveling the score to 3-3.

"Although many of us haven't played in the Chinese Super League for a long time, drawing with such strong teams as Guoan and Shanghai SIPG gave us great confidence," said Zhu Jianrong.

"We played our best first 30 minutes of this season, but we just stopped after the 35th minute and I don't know why," Hou Yongyong commented.