SUZHOU, China, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Xinjiang Tianshan Leopard have been relegated to the China League Two, the third-tier of Chinese football, after losing to Heilongjiang Lava Spring in a penalty shoot-out in the second leg of their playoffs on Friday.
It just took one minute for Xinjiang to register their first shot on target, as Kingsley Onuegbu's spectacular volley in the box sparked the contest into life.
In the 26th minute, Heilongjiang's defender Mao Kaiyu found space in the box and slid in a composed finish.
As he had done in the first leg against Xinjiang, the defining moment came when Li Shuai netted the second goal for Heilongjiang with confidence in the 65th minute and made it 4-4 on aggregate.
Xinjiang, who defeated Heilongjiang 3-2 in their first leg, could not break the deadlock against the gritty opponent and eventually crashed out on penalty shoot-out by 5-3. Enditem