Covid-19 pandemic
LONDON
Guangzhou Evergrande began the defence of their Chinese Super League title with a 2-0 victory against Shanghai Shenhua as the delayed 2020 campaign, revamped due to the Covid-19 pandemic, finally kicked off over the weekend. Two goals from China international forward Wei Shihao gave the side coached by Italian World Cup-winner Fabio Cannavaro victory as they began their bid for a ninth crown in 10 seasons in perfect fashion behind closed doors on Saturday. Shenzhen FC defeated Dutchman Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s Guangzhou R&F 3-0 on Sunday to climb above Evergrande on goal difference in the league’s Dalian hub in northeast China. Instead of the home-and-away system, the 16 CSL teams are playing a round robin in two groups with the top four from each qualifying for an eight-team “championship” stage and the remaining eight going into a “relegation” phase.
