Soccer-Brown Forbes strikes late as Guangzhou's struggles continue

By Michael Church

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Eight-time champions Guangzhou FC continued to struggle in the Chinese Super League on Monday when they slipped to a seventh loss in eight games with a 2-1 defeat by Wuhan Yangtze in Dalian.

Felicio Brown Forbes struck 11 minutes from time to earn Wuhan all three points and leave Guangzhou 16th in the 18-team top flight of Chinese football with three points claimed so far.

Asmir Kajevic gave Wuhan an 18th-minute lead after a mistake in the penalty area by Tyias Browning gifted the Montenegro striker possession and he slid the ball into the bottom corner.

Yang Liyu levelled for Guangzhou just before the hour mark but Brown Forbes latched on to Bruno Viana's flick-on of goalkeeper Wang Zhifeng's punt out of his own half to stroke a low effort beyond Liu Shibo.

Wuhan Three Towns continue to lead the standings, with their 4-2 win over Shanghai Shenhua on Sunday increasing their advantage at the summit to four points.

Marcao put the newly promoted side in front from the penalty spot in the 20th minute and the Brazilian added a second goal two minutes into the second half before Nicolae Stanciu struck from distance to give Wuhan a third.

Marcao completed his hat trick with a 62nd-minute header ahead of a brace from Zhu Jianrong that allowed Shenhua to salvage some respectability from the scoreline.

Defeat saw Shenhua slip to fourth place with defending champions Shandong Taishan moving into second following their 2-0 win over bottom side Guangzhou City.

First-half goals from Cryzan and Zheng Zheng earned Hao Wei's side their sixth win in eight games and keeps them level on 17 points with Henan Longmen, who won 1-0 against Zhejiang FC.

Samir Memisevic scored twice as Beijing Guoan