Guangzhou stay top, Jiangsu keep pace

Guangzhou Evergrande remained top of the Chinese Super League with a 2-1 victory over Liaoning. Rafael Coelo and Jumar put the hosts two up in the space of four second-half minutes, enough to secure three points despite Zhao Junzhe's late consolation. Meanwhile, Jiangsu Shuntian are just a point behind following a commanding 5-1 defeat of Henan Jianye. Aleksandar Jevtic scored after two minutes, Danalache completed a hat-trick across 20 minutes either side of the interval and Lu Bofei netted the fifth. Xu Yang reduced the deficit with 20 minutes remaining. Shanghai Shenhua did not get an immediate reaction to their sacking of manager Jean Tigana, with a disappointing 0-0 draw at home to Shandong Luneng. Santos Welson scored twice in the first 19 minutes as Changchun Yatai saw off Dalian Aerbin 2-1. Peter Utaka scored for the hosts four minutes into the second half, but they could not capitalise.