Roger Schmidt praised his side's thirst for victory after Beijing Guoan made it a record seventh win in a row for the Chinese Super League season.

No team in the Chinese top flight has begun a campaign so well and it makes the German coach's team early title favorites.

Jonathan Viera's hat-trick earned the Beijing Guoan a 4-1 win over Dalian Yifang and ensured the 2009 champions maintained their three-point lead over seven-times winners Guangzhou Evergrande.

The Spaniard gave Beijing the lead with less than two minutes on the clock when he stabbed the ball home from close range and the capital club never looked back.

Zhang Xizhe doubled the advantage from the penalty spot in the 20th minute and Viera scored his side's third – again from inside the six-yard box – with just over two minutes remaining in the half.

Former Valencia and Las Palmas striker Viera then completed his hat-trick midway through the second half, to leave Emmanuel Boateng to claim a consolation for the visitors.

"We played very well today, the overall rhythm of the game was very good and we scored at the right time," said Schmidt.

"For me, this game was very difficult. Dalian are not a weak team, they are physically very strong. But I think our players performed very well in such a difficult game, maintaining their desire for victory. This is very difficult.

Fans are dreaming of a first league championship since 2009, but former Bayer Leverkusen coach Schmidt cautioned: "The league is very long. There are 30 games in total and we have only finished seven games.

"Of course, we played well and played good football. But I think we still need to maintain a modest, prudent and down-to-earth mentality."

Guoan's title credentials will be put to the test on Saturday when they travel to Fabio Cannavaro's Guangzhou Evergrande, who are three points behind in second.

Guangzhou remain within touching distance of Beijing after Anderson Talisca continued his strong start to the season, scoring the only goal as Cannavaro's side defeated Chongqing Lifan.

Talisca claimed his sixth in seven league games a minute into first-half injury time but was carried off midway through the second half and is a doubt for next weekend's top of the table meeting with Guoan.

Evergrande are second in the standings, three points behind Beijing and two ahead of reigning champions Shanghai SIPG, who defeated Tianjin Teda 2-0 thanks to a brace from Brazilian striker Elkeson.

Shandong Luneng, meanwhile, broke their run of three games without a win as Graziano Pelle's hat-trick saw them defeat Wuhan Zall, with the promoted side dropping to the bottom of the standings as a result of the 3-0 loss.

Jiangsu Suning lost touch with the top three when Cosmin Olaroiu's side slipped to a 2-1 defeat to Henan Jianye and Tianjin Tianhai picked up a 3-2 victory over Shanghai Shenhua.

Guangzhou R&F relieved some of the pressure on under-fire boss Dragan Stojkovic as Eran Zahavi's hat-trick secured a 3-1 win over Shenzhen FC that moved them up to eighth while Hebei CFFC shared the points with Beijing Renhe following a 1-1 draw that leaves the teams in 14th and 15th respectively.

(With inputs from AFP, Reuters)