Jadson strikes to earn defending champions Shandong winning start

HONG KONG : Defending champions Shandong Taishan eked out a 1-0 win over newly promoted Zhejiang FC in Haikou as the new Chinese Super League season kicked off on Friday.

Brazilian defender Jadson deflected Son Jun-ho's corner past goalkeeper Zhao Bo 15 minutes from time to put Shandong in front before Hao Wei's side were forced to see out the final five minutes with 10 men after Zheng Zheng was sent off.

The China international picked up a second yellow card of the game in the 85th minute as he upended Matheus Nascimento following a tussle between the pair near the touchline.

The new season is being played in three centralised biosecure venues due to ongoing efforts to control the COVID-19 pandemic, although fans were permitted to attend the game in Haikou's Wuyuan River Stadium.

Eight-time Chinese Super League champions Guangzhou FC made an inauspicious start to their season with a 1-0 loss against Shanghai Shenhua in Dalian courtesy of Zhu Chenjie's 55th minute penalty.

Guangzhou, whose most recent title came in 2019 and who finished in third last year, are not expected to challenge this season after allowing many of the players who formed the core of their most successful side to leave during the winter.

The biggest win of the opening day's play came when newly promoted Wuhan Three Towns handed Hebei FC a 4-0 thumping.

Wallace put last year's China League One champions in front 27 minutes into the game and his fellow Brazilian Davidson doubled the lead two minutes into first half injury time.

Substitutes Xu Haoyang and Sang Yifei scored in the final 13 minutes to ensure a comfortable win for Pedro Morilla's side.