Five straight defending champions and current league leaders Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao FC continued their ongoing winless slump late in the 2016 Chinese Super League season as they were held to a goalless draw by lowly club Hangzhou Greentown FC at their own home ground of Tianhe Stadium last Saturday.

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The Green Giants, who are currently at 12th place in the 16-team China top flight table, stunned the reigning champs by sharing a point in the overall standings to conclude the match, via Football Australia. The team was predicted to suffer from a lopsided defeat in the hands of World Cup-winning head coach Luiz Felipe Scolari's powerhouse squad before the game.

It was the third straight winless match for Guangzhou Evergrande as they were coming off a 0-0 draw with capital city squad Beijing Guoan on Aug. 9 and a rare 1-2 defeat to streaking team Shanghai Greenland Shenhua on Aug. 13, with both games played also at their home stadium, as per Soccerway.

With their ongoing struggles, the Southern China Tigers are still at the top spot of the league table, though. However, their lead over second-running team Jiangsu Suning FC has been cut to only six points at the moment after the Nanjing residents defeated Beijing at home on Sunday, 2-1, with seven rounds left in the current term.

Jiangsu and third-placed squad Shenhua still has a high probability of overtaking World Cup-winning head coach Luiz Felipe Scolari's squad if the team will not be able to get back to their winning ways soonest.

Coach Scolari was said to be hoping to make it six straight China top flight titles for Evergrande at the end of the season after their disappointing elimination in this year's AFC Champions League competitions, the tournament they won twice in the past three years.

Meanwhile, Hangzhou's surprising draw was the team's third unbeaten performance in their last four games, which allowed them to climb the standings from being close to the bottom two.

TagsChina Football, Chinese Super League, Chinese Super League news, Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao FC, Hangzhou Greentown FC