Hebei Kungfu secured a 2:1 victory away to Dongguan United in the League One. The result came during the 19th round of the regular season on Saturday, 16 August. Dongguan United have now accumulated just 11 points from 21 matches, sitting in 16th place.
Dominic Vinicius gave the hosts an early lead, firing home in the second minute. T. Conraad responded almost immediately, netting for Hebei in the fifth minute. M. Deletic then converted a penalty in the 52nd minute to put the visitors ahead for good.
The match featured a flurry of changes after the interval. N. Benavides came on for Dongguan in the 46th minute, while B. Liu and Ma Junliang were paired together for Hebei in the 61st. Four substitutions happened in quick succession around the 84th minute, including a double change for Hebei.
Hebei Kungfu moved up to ninth with 24 points from 21 games. Dongguan remain rooted in the bottom half with a heavy tally of 14 defeats. The visitors did not travel to make up the numbers, taking all three points from a side that had lost four of their last five outings.
Dongguan's recent run included a 2:3 defeat to Meizhou Hakka and losses to Wuxi Wogo and Nantong Zhiyun. Hebei showed more resilience, drawing three of their previous five before this win. The result leaves a 13-point gap between the two sides in the table.