Guangzhou Evergrande stretched their winning streak in the Chinese Super League to three games and provisionally climbed one place up to third after yet another devastating performance gave them a 4-1 win over Shandong Luneng on Saturday.
The result left Evergrande, who still have a game in hand, on 39 points from 19 games, three behind leaders Beijing Guoan and one ahead of fourth-placed Luneng.
The seven-time champions' three-pronged attack of Paulinho, Anderson Talisca and Ricardo Goulart enjoyed another productive night as all three scored in an action-packed CSL encounter.
Talisca gave Evergrande an early lead with a left-footed curler after he ran into a perfectly weighted pass from Paulinho. The in-form striker then doubled the advantage in the 42nd minute, powering a fabulous header beyond Wang Dalei.
Goulart added the third goal a minute before the hour mark as he caused chaos in Luneng defense and pounced on a loose ball in the box after a flick from Paulinho.
Goulart (R) scores his 14th league goal for Guangzhou Evergrande this season, August 25, 2018. /VCG Photo
Luneng's Italian striker Graziano Pelle gave the hosts the slightest glimmer of hope when he headed home a beautiful cross from Zhang Chi, but any optimism was snuffed out in the end by a powerful piledriver from Paulinho.
The result in no way flattered Evergrande, who could have won by a bigger margin as Goulart hit the woodwork and spurned two more chances while Wang Dalei made multiple crucial saves.
Elsewhere on Saturday, Beijing Guoan trounced Tianjin Teda 5-2 with the Brazil's Renato Augusto netting a brilliant hat-trick.
Shanghai SIPG clinched four wins in a row after holding off a resurgent Henan Jianye with a 2-1 victory at home.
Goal-shy Chongqing Lifan failed to end their seven-game winless streak after grinding out a 1-1 draw with fellow strugglers Dalian Yifang.