Soccer-Fellaini header sends champions Shandong on way to victory

By Michael Church

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Marouane Fellaini was on target as defending champions Shandong Taishan handed Dalian Pro a 3-0 defeat in Haikou on Tuesday to stay one point behind leaders Wuhan Three Towns at the top of the Chinese Super League standings.

The former Manchester United midfielder broke the deadlock 21 minutes from time with a looping header before further goals from Moises and Qi Tianyu secured the points for Hao Wei's side.

Victory means Shandong remain one point adrift of Wuhan Three Towns and second-placed Shanghai Shenhua five games into the new campaign.

Wuhan Three Towns claimed a 2-1 win over 2018 champions Shanghai Port thanks to goals from Marcao and Ren Hang to move onto 13 points while Shenhua kept pace with a 2-0 victory over Wuhan Yangtze.

Helmed by former Granada coach Pedro Morilla, Three Towns have made an impressive start to the season with four wins and a draw in their first five games since gaining promotion last year as winners of China League One.

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Eight-time champions Guangzhou FC picked up their first win of the season with a 1-0 victory over Hebei FC that came courtesy of Yang Liyu's composed finish.

That win moved Guangzhou, who have lost many of the players who took them to prominence due to financial difficulties for owners China Evergrande, off the bottom of the table for the first time.

Hebei are now one of only two teams to not have picked up points so far this season, with Guangzhou City also pointless following their 4-2 loss at the hands of newly promoted Zhejiang FC.

Henan Longmen slipped to fourth in the table with a 0-0 against Changchun Yatai while Chengdu Rongchen also shared a scoreless draw with