By Michael Church
(Reuters) – Wuhan Three Towns moved back to the Chinese Super League summit with a 3-0 win over Meizhou Hakka as defending champions Shandong Taishan slipped to a 2-1 defeat by Chengdu Rongcheng.
Brazilian trio Marcao, Ademilson and Davidson were all on target as Wuhan returned to winning ways on Monday after a defeat by Henan Longmen in their previous game had seen them overtaken at the top by Shandong.
However, Shandong’s grip on pole position was loosened by a first-half brace from Chengdu’s Romulo to leave the leading pair level on 62 points, with Wuhan taking top spot on goal-difference.
Marcao’s header in the 12th minute put Wuhan in front and Ademilson doubled the lead 13 minutes later when he scored from close range after Zhang Xiaobin had flicked on Nicolae Stanciu’s corner.
Davidson put the result beyond doubt with 22 minutes remaining when he finished off a quick break with a clinical right foot finish into the top corner.
Shanghai Port remain in third place to occupy the final qualifying place in next year’s Asian Champions League despite losing 2-1 to Zhejiang FC with Henan moving into fourth, three points behind, after a 3-0 over Wuhan Yangtze.
Henan are level on 46 points with Zhejiang and Beijing Guoan, who sit in sixth after their 2-1 win over Guangzhou City.
Shanghai Shenhua’s 2-1 loss against Tianjin Tigers was their third defeat in a row and sees them drop to eighth while former champions Guangzhou FC suffered a 2-1 loss against Shenzhen FC and bottom side Hebei FC were thumped 4-1 by Changchun Yatai.
The Chinese Super League will continued to be played throughout the World Cup finals being played in Qatar after organisers revamped the schedule to make up for time lost due to shutdowns caused earlier in the season by COVID-19 outbreaks.
(Reporting by Michael Church in Doha, Editing by Christian Radnedge)
