Chinese Super League round-up: new boys lead the way as Beijing Guoan bounce back through Bakambu
Beijing bounce back from opening day defeat to Shandong Luneng with new arrivals Wei, Bakambu and Jonathan Viera instrumental
Beijing bounced back from an opening day loss to Shandong Luneng with new arrivals Wei, Bakambu and Jonathan Viera instrumental in the win for Roger Schmidt’s side.
“We adjusted our line-up and we benefitted from these changes,” said the former Bayer Leverkusen coach. “We controlled the match at both ends. We need to take each game one-by-one, but for now everything shows that we are on the right track.”
China international Wei, signed from Portuguese club Leixoes after spending last season on loan with Shanghai SIPG, put his side in front after 22 minutes with a searing drive from almost 30 metres that found the bottom corner.
Just past the hour mark Bakambu doubled the lead, although the former Villarreal striker had to wait until the goal was confirmed by the video assistant referee.
Ji Xiang’s viciously whipped free kick reduced the arrears for Jiangsu soon after but Beijing held on to win.
Vitor Pereira’s Shanghai SIPG lead the standings with Hulk and Lu Wenjun earning a 2-0 win over rivals Shanghai Shenhua.
SIPG have won five games and drawn one in all competitions in 2018 and last year’s runners-up play on Tuesday in the Asian Champions League when they take on South Korea’s Ulsan Hyundai.
“You can’t handle a tight schedule where you play one game every three days,” said Pereira. “So for our next Asian Champions League we will adjust our lineup.
“Tonight we used the same line-up as we did in the ACL and we are now on the right track. We were quite clever today and we converted our two chances into goals. Our performance deserved a win.”
Shandong Luneng also continued their winning start to the league campaign as Diego Tardelli and Graziano Pelle were on target to secure a 2-0 victory over Chongqing Lifan.
Hebei China Fortune’s Ezequiel Lavezzi struck twice, including the winner deep into added time, as Manuel Pellegrini’s side handed Guizhou Hengfeng a 3-2 defeat, while Henan Jianye’s Orlando Sa secured a 1-0 win over Tianjin Teda.
Guangzhou R&F’s Eran Zahavi took his tally to four goals in two games as they defeated promoted Dalian Yifang 2-0 whose high-profile signings Yannick Carrasco and Nicolas Gaitan are still looking for their team’s first points of the season.
Defending champions Guangzhou Evergrande recovered from their opening day loss to R&F to thrash Changchun Yatai 5-0 thanks to a brace apiece from Ricardo Goulart and Alan Carvalho and Tianjin Quanjian lost 2-1 at home to Beijing Renhe.
