Chinese Super League: Shanghai Shenhua 4 Chengdu Blades 1

Shanghai Shenhua moved level with third-placed Hangzhou Lucheng in the Chinese Super League on Saturday with a 4-1 home win over Chengdu Blades.

Argentine striker Luis Salmeron scored a hat-trick for the hosts as Shanghai posted their fifth win from their opening nine games of the season.

Salmeron delighted the crowd at the Hongkou Stadium when he fired Shanghai ahead after just 10 minutes and the 29-year-old was on hand to double their advantage just before the half-hour mark.

Things got worse for the Blades when midfielder Peng Xinli put the ball into his own net five minutes after half-time, and when Salmeron completed his hat-trick on the 67-minute mark the game was all but over.

A minute later Xinli helped add some respectability to the scoreboard – and atone for his earlier mistake – with a goal, but it was too little too late for the visitors who remain in 10th place after the defeat.