Former Giants Dalian Crush Title-holders Shandong 5-0Former champions Dalian Shide set the tone of a "Dark Thursday" for the top sides in the Chinese first division soccer league, toppling down the defending champions Shandong Luneng 5-0 at home.Sichuan Quanxing needed a modest 1-0 win over last season's runners-ups Liaoning Fushun to usurp the top place on the standings from Tianjin Taida, who cracked down to Shenyang Haishi 5-1 in Shenyang, the capital of Liaoning Province. Sichuan, who have 12 points from three wins and three draws, edged out Shanghai Shenhua, who were held a 1-1 draw by the relegated Xiamen Xiaxin, on goals advantage. Dalian and Taida followed with 11 points. A total of 24 goals were scored in the sixth round of the premier soccer league, in contrast to the 59 goals in the previous five rounds. Dalian, known as Dalian Wanda when they won three out of five league titles before the 1997-1998 season, benched the Chinese first forward Hao Haidong and lined up a foreign-talent attacking duo, Adilsondos Santos and Miodrag Pantelic. Brazilian Santos opened the mark in the 38th minute with a header and centerback Xu Hong stroke the lead to 2-0 before the break. In the 60th minute, Santos added another with a strip shot after a brilliant sole run around several Shandong's defenders. Yan Song put more funs in the goals spree when he slipped home on Pantelic's neat cross in the 80th minute, and Pantelic, from Yugoslavia, completed the party with his first goal in China with three minutes to play. In Thursday's other games, Beijing Guo'an routed Shenzhen Ping' an 3-0 at home, Chongqing Longxin outpowered Yunnan Hongta 4-1, and Qingdao Hainiu were held a 1-1 draw by the bottom side Jilin Aodong. |
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