Chengdu Rongcheng secured a 3-2 victory over Chongqing Professional in the Super League's Regular Season round 23 on 15 August 2026. The visitors, already top of the table with 52 points from 26 matches, had to withstand pressure from the tenth-placed hosts sitting on 28 points from 25 games. By then, the visitors had already played one more fixture than their opponents, and this result extended their unbeaten run after recent draws with Wuhan Three Towns and Beijing Guoan.
The opening exchanges belonged to Chongqing, and here's the thing — they took the lead before the quarter-hour mark. Park Jin-Seob found the net in the fourth minute, a quick strike that caught the visitors off guard. To be fair, Chengdu responded immediately, and Felippe Cardoso converted a penalty in the seventeenth minute after VAR intervention confirmed the spot-kick. The visitors had not yet equalised when the clock showed twenty minutes, and that moment felt significant: Chongqing still led despite their defensive work rate.
Chengdu took the lead through A. Mitrita, who scored from the penalty spot in the twenty-first minute. Then came the VAR drama, and by then you could see how finely balanced this contest had become. Wang Ziming had two goals cancelled for offside in quick succession — the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth minutes — while Felipe Silva's effort in the forty-fifth minute was also disallowed. Chongqing pushed for an equaliser, and Tao Qianglong picked up two yellow cards within a minute, the thirty-fifth and thirty-sixth, suggesting nerves were setting in.
Chengdu regained control after the interval. Felipe Silva scored in the forty-second minute, though that goal was later cancelled for offside, and then found real success in the sixty-ninth minute. The Brazilian forward had already been booked in the sixtieth minute, but his movement off the ball created problems. Chongqing made changes, bringing on Liu Haofan in the forty-sixth minute and then Tao Qianglong and Wang Ziming together in the sixty-fifth, trying to find a way back into the game. Lucas Possignolo received a yellow card in the sixty-eighth minute as frustration mounted.
The visitors held firm until the dying moments. Yang Ming-Yang picked up two yellows in the seventy-first and seventy-second minutes, and substitutions followed: He Yiran for Yang Ming-Yang in the seventy-seventh, Cheng Jin and Felippe Cardoso in the eighty-second, and Felipe Silva off in the eighty-eighth. Then came the twist — Abduweli Behram scored in the ninetieth minute to complete the turnaround. Chongqing had worked hard to stay in it, but the visitors found another gear when it mattered.
The statistics tell a particular story. Chongqing held 46 per cent possession and registered seven shots on target with 54 per cent accuracy, creating three big chances from 65 attacks. Chengdu controlled 54 per cent of the ball with five shots on target at 28 per cent accuracy, generating two big chances from 72 attacks. The visitors were more direct, completing 271 passes into the opposition half compared to Chongqing's 163, and while the hosts had more aerial duels won, the guests were sharper in the final third.
The result keeps Chengdu at the summit with 52 points, five ahead of their nearest challengers. Chongqing remain tenth, and this defeat leaves them with a growing gap to close. Both sides had their moments, but the visitors showed they could respond when needed, and that late goal from Behram will be the one that defines the match. The table goes out of the window in these games, but the points difference tells you who is building something special this season.