GUANGZHOU, July 28 -- Paulinho netted twice as Guangzhou Evergrande smashed the tailenders Beijing Renhe 3-0 here on Sunday in the 20th round of Chinese Super League (CSL).
As the winning streak went on to the club-record 11 matches, Guangzhou Evergrande, the CSL frontrunners, take a four-point advantage over Beijing Guoan and Shanghai SIPG, who tied with newly-promoted Wuhan Zhuoer 1-1 in an away game on Sunday.
"This is my job. As the successor of two world champions Lippi and Scolari, people always compare everything I have done with them. Frankly speaking, we may not be the best team in the league considering the players' strength," Fabio Cannavaro, the Evergrande head coach, emphasized how hard he has done to achieve the record.
Wei Shihao, the 24-year-old Chinese international, broke the deadlock for Evergrande in the opening minute with a header on a pass delivered by another young striker Yang Liyu.
The seven-time league title winners dominated the whole match with Paulinho adding two more goals at the 44th and 48th minutes respectively. The second goal of the former Barcelona midfielder came from a backheel assist from Yang Yiyu, who now tops the table with 10 assists.
In the 79th minute, Paulinho celebrated his hat-trick but the goal was disallowed due to offside after the referee had checked the VAR.
"Keep winning matches is great. I don't care about assists or goals as long as we win. The season is still long and we need to be focusd on every match," Yang Liyu said, whose team will face strong challengers Beijing Guoan and Shandong Luneng in next two rounds.
Elsewhere on Sunday, defending champions Shanghai SIPG missed the golden opportunity to surpass Beijing Guoan after being held to a 1-1 draw by Wuhan Zall.
Liu Yunkai stunned the CSL powerhouse in the third minute, taking an early lead for the home team. Yet Marko Arnautovic, SIPG's new signing from West Ham, scored the equalizer in the 22nd minute.
"My players are really tired because of three consecutive away games. We still have several games to play, we will see what will happen," said Vitor Pereira, head coach of Shanghai SIPG.
Jiangsu Suning, who is reportedly close to sign Real Madrid superstar Gareth Bale, clinched a 2-0 victory at home thanks to two goals from their prolific striker Alex Teixeira, pushing their opponents Shenzhen Jiazhaoye to the relegation zone.
Tianjin Tianhai won the Tianjin Derby on Sunday, beating city rivals Tianjin TEDA 1-0 as Yao Junsheng cut inside the area to score the winner of the match.