Shanghai SIPG FC fell to the fourth spot of the current 2016 Chinese Super League table after being held to a goalless tie by league leaders and defending champions Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao FC at the Shanghai Stadium on Saturday.

In a game that featured some of the best foreign talents in the Chinese first division right now--namely Hulk and Jean Evrard Kouassi for SIPG and Brazilians Ricardo Goulart, Paulinho, and Alan Carvalho for Guangzhou Evergrande--both teams were unable to breach each other's nets during the whole 90 minutes plus of play.

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SIPG head coach Sven-Göran Eriksson had two players unavailable for the match as he rested Brazilian striker Elkeson while Argentine midfielder Dario Conca is already out for the season with a ligament tear in his knee.

Meanwhile, Guangzhou's World Cup-winning manager Luiz Felipe Scolari opted to keep Colombian striker and former Atletico Madrid standout Jackson Martinez on the bench despite the close match.

The Southern China Tigers came close to scoring the game-winner, but 25-year-old Goulart, who is this season's top goalscorer with 15 goals, missed a penalty kick in the first half stoppage time.

With the draw, SIPG has now dropped to the fourth spot of the CSL table, two points below cross-city rivals Shanghai Greenland Shenhua. The two teams were tied on the third spot before the match, but Shenhua defeated Tianjin Teda 3-1.

SIPG, last season's CSL runners-up, was eliminated in the quarterfinals of this year's Champions League tournament by K-League Classic squad Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors by a 0-5 loss on aggregate.

In the meantime, Guangzhou increased their lead over second-running team Jiangsu Suning to seven points after the latter fell to a stunning 0-3 upset against Hangzhou Greentown at the Yellow Dragon Sports Center.

Evergrande is only four games away from possibly clinching their sixth-straight China top-flight title, which is unprecedented in the league's 13-year history.

TagsChina Football, Chinese Super League, Chinese Super League news, Shanghai SIPG FC, Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao FC