XI'AN - Cephas Malele scored a hat-trick to help Shanghai Shenhua see off Shandong Taishan 6-0 for their fourth straight win in the Chinese Super League (CSL) on Saturday.

Jin Shunkai brought an early lead for Shenhua in the third minute through a header from Gao Tianyi's corner. Eight minutes later, Malele's header found the net as Shenhua doubled their lead.

In the 18th minute, Malele scored his second and Shenhua's third through a close-range effort.

Andre Luis added Shenhua Shenhua's fourth goal in the 51st minute, while Cephas Malele completed his hat-trick in the 63rd minute. Former China international Yu Hanchao's low shot finished Shenhua's six-goal thrilling show in the 84th minute

Things went from bad to worse for Shandong when Cryzan Barcelos was sent off in the 27th minute after fouling Zhu Chenjie. 10-men Shandong had few ways to break Shenhua's solid defense, going in 3-0 down at halftime.

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Andre Luis added Shenhua's fourth goal in the 51st minute, while Malele completed his hat-trick in the 63rd minute. Former China international Yu Hanchao's low shot finished Shenhua's six-goal thrilling show in the 84th minute.

"Our rivals established a two-goal advantage quickly, and we only had 10 men on the pitch in the second half, so it was hard to even pull one back," rued Shandong's Liu Yang.

"I want to say sorry to our fans," Liu added.

After the big win, Shenhua narrowed the gap on CSL leaders Shanghai Port to two points.

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Although Albion Ademi of Tianjin Jinmen Tiger ran the game for Yu Genwei's side in the first half after providing two assists, Zhang Yufeng and Robert Beric scored a goal respectively in the second half, salvaging a point for Changchun Yatai in a 2-2 draw.

In another CSL game played on Saturday, Cangzhou Mighty Lions drew with Shenzhen Peng City 1-1.