SHANGHAI, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- Guangzhou Evergrande's Brazilian midfielder Paulinho, who scored 19 goals in the 2019 Chinese Super League (CSL), was voted Player of the Season at the league's annual awards ceremony here on Saturday, while Shandong Luneng's Li Xiaopeng took the gong for best coach.
Paulinho, who previously played for Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur and La Liga powerhouses Barcelona, proved to be the key man in Evergrande's title win. The 31-year-old won the award ahead of Eran Zahavi, who scored 29 goals for Guangzhou R&F, and Luneng playmaker Hao Junmin.
44-year-old Li Xiaopeng was awarded best coach, even though his Luneng side only finished fifth in the table, though some excellent performances in the CFA Cup saw the Shandong side reach the final where they lost to Shanghai Shenhua.
Shanghai SIPG's Chinese international Yan Junlin took the best goalkeeper award, while the gong for most popular local player went to Jiangsu Suning midfielder Wu Xi. 19-year-old Zhu Chenjie was awarded best youth player, receiving his award from CSL ambassador Pavel Nedved.
The title of best referee was won by Serbia's Milorad Mazic, with Zhang Cheng named best assistant referee.
