Wu Lei of RCD Espanyol celebrates scoring on April 10, 2022 in Barcelona, Spain. Photo: VCG

Wu Lei scored his eighth goal since rejoining Shanghai Port to help his team smash Shenzhen FC 3-0 in the Chinese Super League (CSL) on Sunday.

Wuhan Three Towns, who led the standings for most of the season, began to crack in the title contention as they lost to Henan Songhan Longmen 3-1. Wuhan is now in second place on the table, three points adrift of Shandong Taishan.

Shanghai effectively secured its victory at the break. Lyu Wenjun broke the deadlock in the seventh minute through a close-range follow-up shot. Eleven minutes later, Wang Shenchao doubled Shanghai's lead after heading home a Matias Vargas corner kick.

In his eighth CSL game this season, Wu continued his fine form as the former Espanyol striker collected Paulinho's pass before curling in his side's third goal in the 25th minute.

Shenzhen went close to pulling one back in the second half, but Lim Chai-Min and Shahsat Hujahmat were both denied by goalkeeper Yan Junling.

After its third straight win, Shanghai ranks third, 13 points away from Shandong.

Wuhan went 1-0 ahead from Xie Pengfei's free kick in the 31st minute but failed to thwart Henan's late comeback efforts, with goals from Zhong Yihao in the 72nd, Yang Shuai in the 82nd, and Guido Carrillo in stoppage time spoiling Wuhan's hopes of regaining the top position from Shandong.

Wuhan defender Wallace failed to make a clearance in the box, and Zhong made the most of that to head in a free kick. After Yang's spectacular volley moved Henan ahead, Carrillo silenced Wuhan fans with a stoppage-time header.

Elsewhere, Dalian Pro drew 1-1 with Guangzhou FC, Beijing Guoan defeated Wuhan Yangtze River 3-1, and Zhejiang FC shared the spoils with Cangzhou Mighty Lions in a six-goal thriller. 

Before joining up with Shanghai Port, Chinese international striker Wu returned to China from La Liga club Espanyol in August.

Wu arrived in Spain in January 2019 and scored 16 goals in 126 appearances for Espanyol, becoming the first ever Chinese player to score in La Liga in the process.

Although he was popular with fans of the Barcelona-based club, Wu found himself increasingly on the fringes of the team in the last two seasons, playing just 457 minutes of league soccer last season and 835 the year before, as the club played in Spain's second division.

The arrival of striker Joselu from Alaves in 2022's summer further reduced Wu's chances of playing this season.

Xinhua