Ademilson strikes late to move Wuhan seven points clear

HONG KONG : Wuhan Three Towns extended their lead at the top of the Chinese Super League to seven points when Brazilian striker Ademilson scored nine minutes from time to earn a 2-1 win over Changchun Yatai on Tuesday.

Ademilson's strike earned Pedro Morilla's outfit all three points after Wuhan's Davidson had seen his 13th minute goal cancelled out by Junior Negrao's 56th-minute penalty and increases their advantage over second-placed Shandong Taishan.

Wuhan held a four-point lead over the defending champions going into the game, which was originally slated to be played last month but had been postponed due to a series of COVID-19 outbreaks across China.

The Chinese government's efforts to implement a zero COVID strategy have seen entire cities locked down across the nation upon the detection of small numbers of cases and have caused significant disruption to the league's schedule.

Wuhan took the lead when a misplaced pass by Jores Okore saw possession gifted to Zhang Hui inside the penalty area and Davidson struck after being fed by his team mate.

Junior Negrao hit the crossbar 13 minutes later as Changchun pushed for an equaliser and the former Ulsan Hyundai forward eventually pulled his side level from the penalty spot 11 minutes after the restart.

But Ademilson came off the bench to earn unbeaten Wuhan a 15th win in 17 games when he sent a left foot strike from distance curling into the top corner of Wu Yake's goal.

Elsewhere, Shanghai Shenhua moved up to third place with a 1-0 victory over Meizhou Hakka thanks to Yang Xu's last minute winner, while Henan Longmen slipped to fourth as a result of their 2-1 loss against Shanghai Port.

Hebei FC remain rooted to the bottom of the table following a 2-1 loss to Dalian Pro and