Marcello Lippi's side, who have won the last two Chinese titles, enjoyed a terrific day as they won while second-placed Shangdong Luneng slipped up at home to Jiangsu Sainty.

Their win in Qingdao came thanks to three second-half goals, as Argentinian Dario Conca starred.

The former Fluminense midfielder bagged the game's opening goal in the 58th minute but Qingdao Jonoon responded with 14 minutes left.

Brazilian Bruno Meneghel was the scorer, setting up an exciting finale at the Qingdao Tiantai Stadium.

Guangzhou Evergrande's South Korean defender Kim Young-Gwon got the all-important goal with nine minutes left though, before Conca sealed the win with a stoppage-time penalty.

Shandong Luneng will be disappointed with their 2-1 defeat to Jiangsu Sainty, as they lost for the first time in more than two months.

Midfielder Lu Bofei was the star man for the winners, and he opened the scoring after just three minutes.

Yang Xu levelled in the first half for Shandong Luneng before Lu Bofei got his second eight minutes from time, winning the match for the visitors.

Hangzhou climbed to eighth after they came from behind to beat Beijing Guoan 2-1.

Ecuador's Joffre Guerron gave Beijing Guoan a 19th-minute lead, but second-half strikes from Japanese forward Masashi Oguro and Wang Song gave Hangzhou all three points.

Other results saw Guangzhou R&F defeat Shanghai Shenxin 2-0 thanks to late goals from Brazilian pair Rafael Coelho and Davi, while Shanghai SIPG and Tianjin Teda notched 1-0 wins over Wuhan Zall and Changchun Yatai respectively.

Also on Saturday, third-placed Guizhou Renhe were held to a goalless draw against Liaoning Whowin.