HONG KONG -- Brazilian Anderson Talisca continued his impressive start to life in the Chinese Super League on Sunday, taking his tally to five goals in two games as Guangzhou Evergrande cruised to a 5-0 win over Chongqing Lifan.
Talisca, who joined the seven-times champions in the summer transfer window on loan from Benfica, struck twice for Fabio Cannavaro's side at Tianhe Stadium to ensure Guangzhou moved to within five points of leaders Beijing Guoan.
Evergrande have a game in hand over Beijing after their clash with Shanghai SIPG last week was postponed due to bad weather and Sunday's win was their second in a row since the league returned to action following the World Cup.
Deng Hanwen gave Guangzhou the perfect start when he capitalised on a fumble from Chongqing goalkeeper Sui Weijie before Gao Lin added a second goal after another Sui mistake five minutes before the break.
Paulinho added the third with a long-range effort and Talisca stabbed home his first of the night in the 70th minute. His second -- a sumptuous curling, dipping effort -- came with five minutes remaining.
"Before we brought Talisca in, we already knew that he can score," said Cannavaro. "However, we can't judge him on just two games. Let's see.
"I'm most satisfied with the fact that we haven't conceded a goal in our last two games.
"During training, defence has been our priority. No matter if you are an offensive player or a defensive player, you need to pay more attention to defence.
"I always remind the players to focus in the games and increase their desire to win."
Beijing retained their place on top of the standings on Saturday thanks to a 2-2 draw with Shanghai Shenhua but were denied all three points as a result of a Wei Shihao own goal in injury time.
Roger Schmidt's side maintained their one-point advantage over second-placed Shandong Luneng, who drew 1-1 with Jiangsu Suning, while SIPG increased the pressure on the leading duo with a 5-1 thrashing of Beijing Renhe.
Oscar scored twice for Vitor Pereira's team, who are now two points off first place with a game in hand, while Wu Lei, He Guan and Lei Wenjie were also on target.
Tianjin Quanjian beat Changchun Yatai 2-0 to leave Chen Jingang's team just above the relegation zone while former Wales and Sunderland manager Chris Coleman continues to look for his first win since moving to China to coach Hebei China Fortune, although Dong Xuesheng's double rescued a point for his team in a 2-2 draw with Guangzhou R&F.
Guizhou Zhicheng remain rooted to the foot of the table following their 2-1 loss to Henan Jianye, with Dalian Yifang also in the relegation zone after suffering a 3-2 defeat against Tianjin Teda.