Renato Augusto earned Beijing Guoan a share of the points as Sunday's top-of-the-table clash with Shandong Luneng ended in a 1-1 draw that allowed Roger Schmidt's side to hold on to pole position in the Chinese Super League.
The Brazilian's curling free kick five minutes from the end of the first half cancelled out Diego Tardelli's fifth-minute effort to ensure Beijing retained their one-point lead over Shandong at the top of the standings.
"We actually created a lot of chances to win but we wasted them and that's a pity," said Augusto. "But I don't want to blame the offence or the defence, because Shandong played very well today."
Beijing's draw with Shandong allowed defending champions Guangzhou Evergrande to move to within three points of the summit as Fabio Cannavaro's side picked up their fourth win in a row since the post-World Cup resumption with a 4-2 win over cross-city rivals Guangzhou R&F.
R&F took the lead -- the first time Evergrande have conceded since the Super League restarted last month -- through Renatinho but Evergrande's Brazilian trio secured the three points for the seven-time champions.
Anderson Talisca levelled the scores in the 28th minute to claim his seventh goal in four games since moving to China from Benfica before a pair of goals from Paulinho either side of Ricardo Goulart's strike ensured that Eran Zahavi's injury time penalty was academic.
Evergrande are now on 30 points and level with big-spending rivals Shanghai SIPG, who were surprise 1-0 losers against struggling Dalian Yifang.
Yannick Carrasco scored the only goal of the game to ensure Dalian won for the first time since late May to ease the pressure on coach Bernd Schuster.
The results mean both SIPG and Evergrande are three points behind Beijing with a game in hand after their meeting with one another last month was postponed until Sept. 18 due to bad weather.
Jiangsu Suning kept the leading group in sight with a 3-1 win over bottom club Guizhou Zhicheng with three goals in the final 18 minutes -- including one for China international Wu Xi -- sealing the points for Cosmin Olaroiu's team.
Chris Coleman's difficult start to life in Chinese football continued as his Hebei China Fortune side slipped to a 2-1 loss against Tianjin Teda.
The former Wales manager was appointed during the World Cup break and has yet to win a Super League game in five attempts, drawing three and losing twice.
Ayoub El Kaabi gave Coleman's side the lead from the penalty spot 18 minutes into the game but Frank Acheampong equalised for Tianjin before Xie Weijun hit the winner two minutes from time.
Henan Jianye took the three points from their encounter with Tianjin Quanjian with a 2-1 win while Beijing Renhe were held to a 1-1 draw by Chongqing Lifan and Changchun Yatai drew 1-1 with Shanghai Shenhua.