By Michael Church
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Brazilian striker Davidson struck twice as Wuhan Three Towns handed struggling Guangzhou City a 4-1 defeat to maintain their slim lead over defending champions Shandong Taishan at the top of the Chinese Super League.
Nicolae Stanciu and Xie Pengfei were also on target for Pedro Morilla’s side as Shandong also won 4-1 against Tianjin Tigers with only goal difference separating the teams.
The results leave both clubs level on 56 points from 23 games and 13 points clear of third-placed Shanghai Port, who won 2-1 against Dalian Port to move ahead of Shanghai Shenhua following their 0-0 draw with Changchun Yatai.
Stanciu’s first-time strike gave Wuhan a 10th minute lead against Guangzhou City but Guilherme bent his free kick around the wall seven minutes later to level the scores.
Davidson put Wuhan back in front in the 32nd minute when he muscled his way past the defence and, six minutes after the break, Xie Pengfei latched onto Wallace’s through ball to steer his shot beyond Han Jiaqi.
Davidson applied the finishing touch from close range after Gao Zhunyi’s cross to complete the scoring four minutes from time as Wuhan bounced back from their third defeat of the season against Chengdu Rongcheng on Saturday.
Chen Pu scored twice in the first seven minutes as Shandong cruised past Tianjin to keep the pressure on, with Yang Fan’s own goal in the 35th minute effectively ending the game as a contest.
Fran Merida pulled one back for Tiajin in the 69th minute before an own goal from David Andujar put the seal on Shandong’s win in the 81st minute.
Shanghai Port moved into third when Feng Jin scored in the 79th minute to see off Dalian Pro after Wu Lei had seen his opener cancelled out by Cesar Manzoki.
Beijing Guoan enhanced their hopes of a place in next year’s Asian Champions League with a 2-1 win over Henan Longmen that takes Stanley Menzo’s side up to sixth and onto 40 points, three points behind third-placed Shanghai Port.
At the bottom, Hebei FC were on the end of a 6-0 thrashing from Chengdu Rongcheng while former champions Guangzhou FC continue to struggle to move out of the relegation zone after being held to a 3-3 draw by Cangzhou Mighty Lions.
Wuhan Yangtze were held to a 0-0 draw by Meizhou Hakka and Shenzhen FC picked up a 2-0 win over Zhejiang FC.
(Reporting by Michael Church in Hong Kong, Editing by Christian Radnedge)
