Guangzhou Evergrande continued their poor form on Sunday night as the seven-time champions slumped to a devastating 1-0 loss to newly promoted Wuhan Zall, which cut their lead at the top of the Chinese Super League to a single point from second-placed Beijing Guoan.

Li Tie's Zall had shocked fourth-placed Shandong Luneng 2-1 last month and they proved that was no fluke thanks to Liu Yun's winner at the Tianhe Stadium in Guangzhou.

Liu, whose head was swathed in claret-stained bandages after a clash of heads, produced a cool finish on the hour mark to stun Fabio Cannavaro's side, who have now lost two of their last three domestic league fixtures.

The latest setback punctures the cautious optimism building at Evergrande that they could clinch two titles at the end of the season after edging out defending champions Kashima Antlers last week to storm into the semi-finals of the AFC Champions League.

Without a win in five outings and a haul of just one point from a possible nine meant Evergrande are now going through their roughest patch of the season.

Guoan had thrown down the gauntlet earlier in the day, beating Tianjin Tianhai 3-0 on the road thanks to goals from Hou Yongyong, Zhang Yuning and Renato Augusto, while Shanghai SIPG also stayed in the hunt after beating Henan Jianye 2-1.

Evergrande still remain top of the table with 59 points from 25 matches but their lead over the chasing pack has become increasingly narrow, which set the alarm bells well and truly ringing.