Champions Shandong close gap as Wuhan slip to first defeat

HONG KONG: Champions Shandong Taishan reduced the gap to Wuhan Three Towns at the top of the Chinese Super League with a 4-0 win over Shenzhen FC after the leaders slipped to a 4-3 defeat by lowly Cangzhou Mighty Lions.

Cangzhou striker Jose Kante scored all four goals for the side in 15th place in the 18-team league, including the winner two minutes into added time to hand Wuhan their first defeat of the season.

Kante slammed home the opener in the 18th minute after Deng Hanwen was dispossessed in the penalty area by Deabeas Owusu but Davidson levelled from the penalty spot 10 minutes before the break.

Kante restored his side's lead when he tapped in and, four minutes after the restart, he completed his hat-trick when he drove through the Wuhan midfield from wide on the left to shoot past Wu Fei from outside the area.

Davidson scored again from the penalty spot with 20 minutes left and Zhang Xiaobin hit an 84th-minute equaliser, only for Kante to seal all three points in the 92nd minute with a shot from distance that bounced over Wu's poor attempt to save.

Wuhan remained on 47 points from 18 games while Shenzhen moved onto 43 points with their win over struggling Shenzhen, which came courtesy of a brace from Brazilian forward Cryzan as well as goals from Moises and Guo Tianyu.

Former champions Shanghai Port moved up to fifth with a 2-0 win over Guangzhou City as Wang Shenchao gave Ivan Leko's team the lead in the 32nd minute and Cherif Ndiaye smashed in the second three minutes before the break.

Henan Longmen remained fourth after a 0-0 draw with Chengdu Rongcheng while Beijing Guoan were held to a 2-2 draw by Dalian Pro and Changchun Yatai beat Wuhan Yangtze 2-0.