Shanghai SIPG savored a 3-0 away victory over Jiangsu Suning on Saturday, closing to two points behind league leaders Beijing Guoan in the Chinese Super League (CSL). 

Brazilian Hulk De Souza scored the stunning opener in the 2nd minute, his seventh goal of the season, and made a pair of assists in the 17th and 56th minutes for Shanghai SIPG, while Jiangsu had both Xie Pengfei and Ye Chongqiu booked with red cards during the stoppage time. 

"We had a good start today," said SIPG manager Vitor Pereira. "After going 1-0 up quickly, our opponents got a red card and in these cases the game is very difficult." 

"After we took a 2-0 lead our offensive and defensive organization was messy. It was not easy to win 3-0 today; it's not easy to win at Suning's home," Pereira added.

With the win, Shanghai SIPG tied with seven-time champions Guangzhou Evergrande on the runners-up place with 43 points from the 17 rounds of matches.

Also on Saturday, Wuhan Zall leapt up to fifth in the table as goals from Leo Baptistao and Jean Kouassi saw Li Tie's side defeat bottom club Beijing Renhe 2-0 while Tianjin Tianhai and Shenzhen FC drew 2-2. 

(With input from Xinhua and Reuters)