Paulinho, right, of Guangzhou Evergrande fights for the ball with Tan Chun Lok, left, of Guangzhou R&F during their Chinese Super League football match in Dalian in China's northeastern Liaoning province on July 30, 2020. (PHOTO / AFP)

DALIAN - Shanghai Shenhua overcame Shenzhen FC 3-2 without their elite striker Stephan El Shaarawy for the first win, while Guangzhou Evergrande dominated their city rivals Guangzhou R&F 5-0 in the second round of Chinese Super League (CSL) here on Thursday.

The former AC Milan player was reportedly dropped from the squad by coach Choi Kang-hee as a disciplinary measure, after having missed Shanghai's practice sessions three times gratuitously this week.

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33-year-old right back Zhao Mingjian played a wall pass with Peng Xinli from the left before firing a shot into net in the ninth minute to give Shanghai an explosive start.

Shenhua doubled their lead early in the second half, when Zhu Baojie had a sliding kick on Cao Yunding's cross in the 48th minute. Shenzhen's substitute John Mary Honi Uzuegbunam hit back four minutes later with a poacher goal.

The Blue closed out the victory from Kim Shin-wook's penalty in the 63rd minute, after Zhang Lu was tripped by Shenzhen defender Song Ju-hun. Uzuegbunam scored a penalty in the stoppage time for Shenzhen.

"They had a higher possession percentage but posed little threat to us. The match went the way that we excepted," said Choi.

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In an eye-catching Guangzhou derby, Paulinho put Evergrande in front with a powerful left-footed shot in the eighth minute, also his 50th CSL goal for Evergrande.

Wei Shihao latched on to Mei Fang's cross to add a second on 40 minutes.

In the 53rd minute, Gao Zhunyi cut inside and netted a curling goal for Evergrande. Ten minutes later, Anderson Talisca converted the penalty after Tang Miao's handball in the box.

Ai Kesen flighted a superb free-kick into the left corner of the net at the death, turning the derby into a slaughter.