Guangzhou march on towards fourth title
BEIJING, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Guangzhou Evergrande took another step towards a fourth successive Chinese Super League title with a 3-0 win at Shanghai Dongya at the weekend to maintain their six-point advantage over Beijing Guoan at the top of the table.
Marcello Lippi's side picked up where they left off with their 6-0 hammering of Liaoning before the two-week international break and a goal in the seventh minute from winger Gao Lin gave them an early lead at the Tianhe Stadium.
The big-spending Asian champions were kept to just the one score before the break but a brace after halftime from prolific Brazilian Elkeson - his 21st and 22nd of the season - gave them a comfortable win.
Evergrande have 57 points from 24 matches, while Guoan's 51 puts them seven points in front of Guangzhou R&F, who moved clear of Shanghai Dongya in third place with a 4-0 hammering of Shanghai Shenhua on Sunday.
Nigerian Aaron Samuel grabbed a goal either side of halftime, Brazilian Davi scored his 12th of the season and Moroccan striker Abderrazak Hamdallah his 18th this year for Sven-Goran Eriksson's R&F.
Guoan had a potentially tricky away trip to Jiangsu Sainty on Saturday but twice came from behind to secure a 3-2 win courtesy of attacking midfielder Zhang Xizhe's 74th minute penalty. (Reporting by Nick Mulvenney in Sydney, editing by Greg Stutchbury)
