A four-horse race a couple of months ago has been reduced to a straight fight between the two sides after Shandong Luneng and Beijing Guoan fell away.

Heading into the international break and with five games left, Shanghai are top, four points clear of Cannavaro's reigning champions.

Shandong Luneng and Beijing Guoan are six points further back, a gap that they are unlikely to bridge as Guangzhou and Shanghai both eye qualification to the 2019 AFC Champions League.

Adding spice to what is being touted by some as the most exciting title race since the CSL was formed in 2004, Shanghai SIPG will travel to Guangzhou on November 3.

A stunning comeback saw Kashima come from two down to claim a 3-2 win over Suwon, while it was smash-and-grab for Persepolis as they scored a late penalty to see off Al Sadd 1-0 in Doha. Here's our look back at the week in numbers.

The draw gave Jeonbuk, who have sealed qualification to the 2019 AFC Champions League, an unassailable 74 points with 23 wins, five draws and just four defeats.

They are 19 points ahead of second placed Gyeongnam, who lost 1-0 to Jeju United earlier in the day, with six matches to play.

I'd like to say thank you to our supporters for coming out to cheer for us. There was a lot of noise for us tonight from the stands and we felt it. Please continue to support us for the games to come as you did today!

Serginho hails the passionate Kashima Antlers support after the J.League side came back from two goals down to beat Suwon Samsung Bluewings 3-2 in the first leg at Kashima Soccer Stadium.

The Iran international pulled off an impressive six saves to keep his side in the match in Doha, securing a cleansheet and giving teammate Ali Alipour the platform to dispatch an 86th-minute spot-kick for the game's only goal.

Beiranvand's 100 percent save success rate, three duels won and 25 successful passes all earn him a weekly high mark of 7.7.

Second in this week’s ranking is Suwon Samsung Bluewings striker Dejan Damjanovic (pictured below), who scored his eighth goal of the campaign as the Korean side lost 3-2 at Kashima Antlers.

There is still everything to play for in the second leg in Korea Republic but the Japanese side will certainly be confident after a morale-boosting comeback.

Jesualdo Ferreira's high-flying Al Sadd came into the game at Jassim bin Hamad Stadium looking to exploit the absence of several key Persepolis players, but were instead left frustrated by a perfect defensive display from the visitors, before Ali Alipour struck an 86th-minute penalty to seal an unlikely win.