Five-straight Chinese Super League defending champions Guangzhou Evergrande pulled off a hard-earned 2-1 away win over struggling contenders Henan Jianye at the Zhengzhou Hanghai Stadium last Saturday.

It was a bounce back win for the Southern China Tigers after they went through only their second loss this term in the previous round, falling to cross-city rivals Guangzhou R&F in their derby at the Yuexiushan Stadium with the same score.

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The win allowed World Cup-winning head coach Luiz Felipe Scolari's boys to keep their 10-point spread on second-running squad Jiangsu Suning with only ten games left in their current campaign, as per Shanghai Daily.

Brazilian defensive midfielder Paulinho opened the scoring at the 42nd minute of the match to give Guangzhou the advantage heading into the break. Compatriot Ricardo Goulart immediately doubled the lead by netting another one just three minutes later, right at the stroke of halftime, building a 2-0 score, via Soccerway.

Guangzhou faced a tough challenge two minutes after the restart when team captain Zheng Zhi was booked with his second yellow card and sent off, giving the defensive champs a one-man disadvantage with still half the match to go.

The Red Devils tried to mount comeback as another Brazilian import, winger Ivo, converted a penalty kick at the 67th off a foul from Evergrande goalkeeper Zeng Cheng, but it was all they could do in the contest with the visitors clamping on their defenses to prevent the equalizer until time ran out.

It was the 15th win of the season in 20 tries for Evergrande, which allowed them to retain league leadership going into the final games of the current term.

Meanwhile, Henan dropped to the seventh spot of the league table from as high as fifth place after losing four of their last five matches. They have actually been defeated in six of their last eight outings, which magnifies their current struggles this season.

TagsChina Football, Chinese Super League, Chinese Super League news, Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao FC, Henan Jianye FC