Shanghai Shenhua remained at the bottom of the Chinese Super League after snatching a 2-2 home draw against Liaoning Whowin on Easter Sunday amid controversies surrounding their foreign players.

Shenhua's Syrian forward Firas Khatib pulled one back for the home side in the 61st minute after the visitors were up 2-0. Khatib was also involved in Shenhua's equalizer when his pass found Cape Verde's Eduardo "Dady" Gomes, who scored in the 85th minute.

Liaoning took the lead in the 17th minute of the game. Zambian striker James Chamanga, who played as left back last night, scored with a header from a Zhao Junzhe freekick.

The visitors extended the lead in the 37th minute. Brazilian striker Edu grabbed a header from Serbian forward Milos Trifunovic on a breakaway, and drove past Shenhua defender Li Jianbin to score at the near post.

"We knew the opponent would be very tough to play. They are a very strong team," said Shenhua's Argentine coach Sergio Batista after the match. "We played aggressive today ... it would be unfortunate if we were to lose today."

But the main talking point before and after the match was Shenhua's missing core players - Schiavi, Moreno and Toranzo - who sat out of the game allegedly due to non-payment of their salaries.

The three South American players had even threatened to fly back to their own countries last week but showed up in casuals at the Hongkou Football Stadium last night.

"The absence of the three foreign players definitely influenced us.

"There were two players in the starting roster who had never played for us this season," Batista said.

"I told the Chinese players not to rely too much on the foreign players today and I am satisfied with their attitude today."

Batista said he was not sure if the three players would play the next game, which "depends on the communication between them and the club."

Shenhua remains in the 15th place out of the 16 CSL teams after three rounds of play.

Shandong Luneng stands at the top of the table with three straight wins. Shanghai's two other team - Shenxin is 12th on the table while Shanghai East Asia is 9th after two draws.