Chongqing Lifan's Brazilian striker Alan Kardec headed a late goal to earn a 1-1 draw with Jiangsu Suning in the Chinese Super League playoff quarter-final first leg in Suzhou on Monday.
Kardec’s 73rd minute header from Jiang Zhe’s corner gave Jiangsu goalkeeper Gu Chao little chance and cancelled Jiangsu's opener by his compatriot Alex Teixeira after seven minutes.
Teixeira put Cosmin Olaroiu’s side in front when his strike from the edge of the area took a very slight deflection before evading the despairing grasp of keeper Deng Xiaofei.
But Kardec's leveller for Chongqing leaves the tie in the balance ahead of Saturday's second leg.
Earlier on Monday, Guangzhou R&F were held to a 0-0 draw away to Qingdao Huanghai in the relegation playoffs in Dalian.
They meet again on Saturday with the winners guaranteed to avoid relegation while the losers will remain in the mix for one of the two berths down in the second division next season.
(Reporting by Michael Church; Editing by Ken Ferris)
