Leaders Beijing Guoan maintained their one-point advantage at the top of the Chinese Super League as Tao Wei scored twice in a 3-0 win over Changsha Ginde at Beijing Workers' Stadium.

The home side got off to a great start after Tao beat goalkeeper Song Zhenyu with a 30-yard free-kick. The veteran midfielder added a second just before the half-hour mark as he calmly converted a penalty.

Australian substitute striker Joel Griffiths then locked up the points 12 minutes before the final whistle, latching onto Honduran Emil Martinez's well-timed through pass in the box before slotting the ball past onrushing keeper Song.

"We took to the pitch today under intense pressure," said Beijing coach Lee Jang-Soo. "Fortunately, my players did a good job to accomplish our target."

The victory eased pressure on the Korean coach, who had indicated he would resign after his side were stunned by bottom side Chongqing Lifan 3-2 away on 2 August.

Shandong also shook off their recent indifferent form as Lu Zheng and Lebanese international Roda Antar struck each to hand the reigning champions their first victory in six CSL matches, a 2-1 triumph at Shaanxi Baorong.

Pacy forward Lu opened the scoring for the visitors in the 32nd minute, dribbling past Zheng Tao before curling home with a left-footed shot.

Wang Peng grabbed an equaliser shortly after the break, lobbing a loose ball into the net during a goalmouth scramble. Midfielder Anta then netted the winner in the 58th minute with a diving header to leave the defending champions trailing Beijing by a point.

"We were lucky today to win the game," said Shandong's Serbian manager Ljubisa Tumbakovic. "We have another 13 CSL games left and won't achieve good results if we don't work hard."