Cephas Malele scored twice as Shanghai Shenhua beat Shenzhen 3-0 in the Chinese Super League.
Malele broke the deadlock in the 28th minute with a header, and his flick-on allowed China international Wu Xi to double Shenhua’s advantage with a volley before half-time, reports Xinhua.
Malele shone again before the final whistle, scoring his second of the game with a long-range shot.
With the win, Shenhua narrowed the gap on runaway leaders Shanghai Port to 14 points.
Elsewhere, Cangzhou Mighty Lions heaped further misery on relegation-threatened Dalian Pro, beating the beleaguered side 2-1.
Deabeas Owusu-Sekyere’s bicycle kick gave Cangzhou the lead in first-half injury time. Cangzhou doubled their lead in the 76th minute when Wang Peng tapped in a rebound after Oscar Maritu had hit the post.
Lin Liangming, formerly of Real Madrid’s youth team, pulled one back for Dalian in the 86th minute, but couldn’t stop his team from suffering a defeat. Dalian are second from bottom of the CSL with 15 points from 21 games.
In other games, Wuhan Three Towns beat Henan FC 4-2, and Tianjin Jinmen Tigers and Beijing Guoan played out a 0-0 draw.