GUANGZHOU Evergrande players put their stuttering Asian Champions League form behind them Monday night as Fabio Cannavaro’s side picked up the first trophy of the season with a 4-1 win over Shanghai Shenhua to claim the Chinese Super Cup.

Evergrande has drawn its opening two games in the continental championship, but FA Cup winner Shenhua proved no match for the seven-time Chinese Super League champion as the side gears up for the start of the new domestic campaign.

Huang Bowen gave Cannavaro’s team the lead from distance in the 26th minute only for Fredy Guarin to level the scores in the 37th minute from close range.

But Alan Carvalho put Evergrande back in front just two minutes ahead of the break and Gao Lin doubled his side’s lead before Ricardo Goulart put the result beyond doubt from the penalty spot in injury time.

“I’m happy today, not just because of this result but because of the mature performance of my team,” said Cannavaro. “They were very steady and were not affected by any irrelevant factors. I’m very satisfied with the way we controlled the match from the first minute until the last.”

The win was Guangzhou’s first since Cannavaro returned as coach for a second time after Luiz Felipe Scolari stood down from the post at the end of last season, having steered Evergrande to the club’s record-extending seventh Chinese league title.

Scolari had replaced Cannavaro in mid-2015 following the Italian’s firing, with the Brazilian going on to win three Chinese Super League titles as well as the Asian Champions League.

Shenhua players, meanwhile, were left shellshocked by Evergrande’s second half performance as Wu Jingui’s side continue to seek their first win of the year having also drawn their opening two games in the continental club championship.

“My congratulations to Evergrande,” said Wu, who replaced Gus Poyet as head coach in the latter stages of last season and led Shenhua to their Chinese FA Cup success. “Both sides tried very hard. Overall we were not the stronger team but we gave our all.

“Of course there were details that need to be improved and we had some injuries. We will take closer look at our performance, but I believe games like this will benefit our players significantly. This is also very useful.”

Evergrande players kick off the defense of their title Friday evening when they meet cross-city rivals Guangzhou R&F, while Shenhua players start their 2018 league season at home to Changchun Yatai.(SD-Agencies)