Relegation-haunted Wuhan Zall must have thought they were doomed when the ever-reliable Stephane Mbia, who has become an increasingly influential figure with his leadership and grit since joining the club in February, inexplicably missed a penalty on Saturday in a humdinger of a battle for Chinese Super League survival, only for a last-gasp goal to pour further misery onto the ashen-faced Choi Kang-hee and his struggling Dalian Yifang.

Zall were, therefore, able to put an end to their five-match winless run and climb out of the relegation zone. Yifang, in contrast, face a mountainous task to beat the drop after the 2-1 defeat saw them slip down to 13th place, only two points adrift of the bottom-placed Beijing Renhe. 

It was another of those days when Yifang supporters made it clear that they are far from enamored with Choi and his tactics. The South Korean's decision to ditch Marek Hamsik went down particularly badly with the home fans, especially after they had been overrun in midfield for long periods against a wildly inconsistent Zall, whose incredibly poor record in away games was nothing but extraordinary. Their last away win in the top flight was 4,242 days ago. 

It is well documented that Hamsik has struggled to find his feet in China after swapping Serie A for the CSL this season, but the former Napoli captain showed the little glimpse of his former self in recent outings and surely needs more playing time to get his mojo back. Yet, Hamsik didn't even make the bench on Saturday as the 31-year-old star was left out of Yifang's matchday squad.

Choi explained after the game that Hamsik was dropped from the squad for "tactical reasons," and judging by Yifang's torrid performance, his tactics obviously backfired disastrously.

In spite of Hamsik's poor form, he has covered the most ground in this Yifang team, running more than anyone else in the new campaign according to the running stats. It is impossible to imagine Zall dominating the midfield as they did on Saturday had Hamsik been there absorbing pressure by striding forward with the ball, breaking up attacks and marshaling the backline. 

Yifang just seemed unable to stem the flow of orange shirts due to the gaping hole in midfield as Zall enjoyed the volume of opportunities they constantly carved out in defiance of the feisty atmosphere at the Dalian Sports Center Stadium. 

The relegation scrap was aggressive throughout, with plenty of tough tackles flying in, including a clash of heads that left both Yifang's Shan Pengfei and Zall's Liu Yi covered in blood. The 26-year-old Shan rushed to hospital after the interval while Liu will also be an injury doubt for Zall's next crucial tie against Guangzhou Evergrande after requiring 30 stitches on his forehead.

For all the unfortunate distractions, Li Tie's team came desperately close to breaking the deadlock but Mbia blew the chance from the spot. Much to the annoyance of Yifang, Zall reacted positively to this early setback and quickly established a deserved lead through Leonardo Baptistao's first goal for the club.

Zall were well on top at that point and Yifang were looking at familiar failings, which had not been the case after the hour mark when former Atletico Madrid winger Yannick Carrasco leveled the scores with a composed finish. 

It was quite a sucker punch, yet Jean Evrard Kouassi made sure Zall would not leave Dalian with only one point as he came off the bench to bag the late winner. An apologetic Choi refused to make excuses after the latest debacle and says he must take responsibility for this dispiriting loss.

"I feel truly sorry for our supporters as we failed to win for the fourth consecutive times," said Choi. "My players have tried their best and the coach has to take responsibility."

Despite only three months into his new job, the 60-year-old veteran is living on borrowed time.