Beijing Guoan coach Alberto Zaccheroni came under mounting pressure as hundreds of fans protested after a 2-1 defeat to 10-man Jiangsu Suning late on Sunday.

Some supporters were in tears at the final whistle and fans later massed at Beijing's Workers' Stadium players and staff entrance, where they were held back by police.

"Zaccheroni out!" they chanted during the game, and "Give us the old Guoan back!" in reference to the club's free-scoring ways of last season.

At the post-match press conference, a clearly dispirited Zaccheroni, who has been under fire for several weeks, was asked if he could hear the fans calling for him to go.

The former Japan, Milan, Lazio and Inter coach replied: "The fans' reaction is normal. I know this performance was just too difficult to watch."

The traditional powerhouse have made a miserable start to the season and they lie second bottom of the Chinese Super League with six points from seven games.

In a match watched by 41,755 fans, Croatian-Brazilian winger Sammir opened the scoring for Jiangsu in the 14th minute after a neat turn and shot.

Beijing fullback Zhao Hejing equalized before Asia's record 50 million euro ($57 million) signing Alex Teixeira was sent off after 42 minutes over a seemingly innocuous exchange with Beijing midfielder Zhang Xiaobin.

However the home side failed to exploit their numerical advantage and Jiangsu's Li Ang scored a free-kick in the 64th minute to seal victory for the visitors.

Zaccheroni pointed to the continuing absence of key players, including Turkish international striker Burak Yilmaz, for his side's predicament.

"This season I have not had a full squad to choose from even once, so my options have been very limited," lamented the Italian.

Jiangsu's win kept them second in the 16-team league, one point behind defending champions Guangzhou Evergrande who beat Tim Cahill's Hangzhou Greentown 2-1.