GUANGZHOU, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Guangzhou Evergrande extended their winning streak to nine matches as Paulinho's hat trick helped the seven-time champions beat Dalian Yifang 4-1 at home in the 18th round of the Chinese Super League (CSL) here on Tuesday.
Shanghai Shenhua escaped the relegation zone after surviving a 3-2 thriller against Henan Jianye, while Guangzhou R&F edged Tianjin Teda 2-1.
Guangzhou Evergrande, with 46 points, temporarily sit atop of the CSL table, surpassing overnight leaders Beijing Guoan, who are going to play their 18th round match in a Beijing derby against Beijing Renhe.
Dalian Yifang took an early lead with Qin Sheng's 11th minute goal, but were unable to keep their advantage for long as Paulinho received an accurate pass from Yang Liyu and demonstrated his composure in front of the Dalian goalkeeper 17 minutes later.
Both sides had chances in the remaining minutes, but the 1-1 tie was only broken until the 83rd minute when Paulinho scored his second goal in the match and his third eight minutes later. Elkeson, playing his second match after returning to Guangzhou Evergrande earlier this month, added another goal in the last minute to seal the victory 4-1.
"I'm thankful for my teammates and the club. What I did is just being at the right place at the right time and netted the goals. I'm happy that I scored a hat-trick today," Paulinho said afterwards.
Evergrande were not the only victorious team in Guangzhou as Guangzhou R&F registered a 2-1 victory over Tianjin Teda thanks to the two goals from their star striker Eran Zahavi, who continues to lead the scorers standing in the CSL with 22 goals.
Elsewhere, Shanghai Shenhua snatched their three-game losing streak, defeating Henan Jianye 3-2. Being 1-0 down, Henan were reduced to 10-man in the 34th minute when defender Han Xuan was shown a direct red card for pulling Shanghai Shenhua's Giovanni Moreno down inside the box after the referee consulted the VAR and Moreno reacted quickly to make up for his saved penalty and doubled their lead.
Henan fought back with Fernando Karanga's two goals in the stoppage time of the first half, but Cong Zhen netted the decider in the 64th minute to help Shenhua earn precious three points, which lifted them out of the relegation zone with one more game played.
Despite the loss, Henan head coach Wang Baoshan expressed his pride at the press conference.
"It was a great and tough match. We showed our fighting spirit and aggressiveness throughout the match, especially after we were one-man down. I am proud of the team," he said.
