Chinese league digest

Shanghai Shenhua slipped into the relegation zone two weeks after boss Zhu Jun vowed the club was still looking at finishing in the top three of the Chinese Super League and winning the Chinese Football Association Cup.

The club, which brought in French striker Nicolas Anelka (pictured) before the season and has confirmed the imminent arrival of Cote d'Ivoire forward Didier Drogba, slipped to 12th place in the league after losing to Qingdao Jonoon, 1-0, in an away game on Sunday.

Shenhua has 15 points from 15 games at the league's halfway stage, only one point ahead of the bottom teams Shanghai Shenxin, Henan Jianye and Shandong Luneng. However, it faces a series of tough games against Jiangsu Sainty, Beijing Guo'an, Guangzhou Evergrande and Guangzhou R&F this month.

Zhu invested heavily this season in an effort to bring Shenhua, which finished 11th in 2011, into the AFC Champions League. The club has to win the CFA Cup to claim a berth in the Asian competition if it can't finish in the top three of the domestic league ... and that appears highly unlikely.

In its first CFA Cup match this season, Shenhua scraped past second-tier team Shenzhen Ruby in a penalty shootout last Wednesday. The boss criticized the players for their low morale and threatened to fine them on his Sina Weibo account after the game.

Superstar Anelka, who has only scored two goals so far this season, is also losing favor with the fans. According to Chinese website Sohu, a fan from Shanghai went to Shenhua's hotel and lambasted Anelka in English for his poor performances.

The 33-year-old also refused to shake hands with Qingdao players and went straight to the locker room after Sunday's game.