Chinese Super League: Shanghai SIPG win 4-0 thanks to ‘Austrian Zlatan’ and ‘Brazilian Wu Lei’

Marko Arnautovic and Ricardo Lopes score two each as Shanghai SIPG beat Hebei China Fortune 4-0 to go top of group B

Last gasp Tianjin Teda goal means only Giovanni Van Bronckhorst’s Guangzhou R&F are pointless after second round

2-MIN READ2-MIN

Marko Arnautovic of Shanghai SIPG celebrates during the Chinese Super League second round match against Hebei China Fortune in Suzhou. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 10:01am, 3 Aug 2020Updated: 10:01am, 3 Aug 2020

Former Chinese Super League champions Shanghai SIPG stormed back to the top of the group B table with a 4-0 win over Hebei China Fortune to maintain their 100 per cent start to the season.

Two goals each from Marko Arnautovic and the side’s new star, Ricardo Lopes Pereira, decided the game behind closed doors in Suzhou, although it took until first half injury time for the Austrian to open the scoring.

The new arrival has been dubbed the “Brazilian Wu Lei” by SIPG fans after their former star who moved to La Liga with Espanyol after winning the CSL with his boyhood club, while the mercurial Arnautovic, who arrived to replace Wu last summer, was described as “a little bit of Zlatan” by his former West Ham United manager David Moyes.

Even though fans are currently banned in the CSL’s behind closed doors games as part of their measures to control the coronavirus pandemic, some had made the short journey from Shanghai to nearby Suzhou and rented hotel rooms that overlooked the pitch to watch the game.

They were not disappointed in the end as Vitor Pereira’s side racked up four goals to lead Beijing Guoan on goal difference. The 2018 champions Shanghai SIPG, sometimes known by their fans as the “Manchester United of China” are the only team to prevent Guangzhou Evergrande winning the title in the last 10 seasons

The top four in each group go on to the championship bracket with the bottom four facing off to avoid relegation.