Zheng Long's sixth goal of this season saved Guangzhou Evergrande as the defending champion were held to a 1-1 draw by Henan Jianye on home soil in the 19th round of the Chinese Super League here on Wednesday.
Guangzhou Evergrande were a player down just 11 minutes into the game as captain Zheng Zhi was sent off for a bookable defense before Jianye's Olivio Da Rosa capitalized the free kick to put the visiting team ahead.
Then Evergrande's new signing player Paulinho made his debut in Tianhe Stadium as he substituted Wang Junhui in 14th minute.
Zheng Long scored the equalizer as Gao Lin squared for him on the left wing to drill home in a close-range.
Jianye's substitute Javier Patino's bullet header was denied by Evergrande's goalkeeper Zeng Cheng just 9 minutes after the break before Olivio's powerful shot was put to safety by Zeng again.
Evergrande moves to the second place temporarily with 38 points, Jianye ranks 5th place.
