Paulinho (right) of Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao vies for the ball during the 13th round match of the 2020 Chinese Football Association Super League (CSL) Dalian Division between Jiangsu Suning and Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao in Dalian, northeast China's Liaoning province, Sept 24, 2020. (LONG LEI / XINHUA)

DALIAN - Jiangsu Suning stunned defending champion Guangzhou Evergrande 2-1, while Shandong Luneng beat Henan Jianye 2-0 in the 13th round of the Chinese Super League (CSL) here on Thursday.

Jiangsu and Guangzhou staged a hard-fought game with constant clashes. Alex Teixeira opened the scoring for Jiangsu in the remaining minutes of the first half. After He Chao pulled one back for Guangzhou in the 71st minute, Eder Citadin Martins gave Jiangsu the lead again four minutes later.

ALSO READ: Evergrande beat Luneng, R&F draw with Suning in CSL

Guangzhou still ranks first in the group, and will take on Dalian Pro in the group's last round.

Roger Guedes and Graziano Pelle scored in the first half to seal the win, which helped Shandong build an unassailable lead with 23 points in the Dalian group.

Sun Ke (left) of Shenzhen FC vies for the ball with Marek Hamsik of Dalian Pro during the 13th round match of the 2020 Chinese Football Association Super League (CSL) Dalian Division between Shenzhen FC and Dalian Pro, in Dalian, northeast China's Liaoning province, Sept 24, 2020. (PAN YULONG / XINHUA)

Also on Thursday, Shenzhen FC beat Rafael Benitez's Dalian Pro 3-1. Shanghai Shenhua edged Guangzhou R&F 2-0.

READ MORE: Shanghai Shenhua re-enter top four in CSL Dalian division

The 16-team CSL was split into two groups, with each group of eight teams based respectively in Dalian and Suzhou. Both groups will play 14 rounds in the first phase, which is to end next Monday.

The top four finishers of each group will form a new group, to be based in Suzhou, to fight for the first to eighth positions of the season in the second phase, which will be held between Oct 16 to Dec 12.

The remaining eight teams of the league will form the other group, to be based in Dalian, to fight off relegation, with the last to be relegated and the second to last set to vie for a berth for the next CSL season with the winner of the second-tier league.