Scoring spree opens CSL season

Cannavaro admonished his players for their slow start.

"At the beginning we weren't fully concentrated on the game," said the coach. "Once we finally focused, the scoreline changed.

"I told my players that R&F is a team that makes a strong start to the season. I repeatedly told them this. R&F has done this for years.

"Of course, games at Tianhe (stadium) are never normal and the effort they put in must be stronger. I don't want to accept the players conceding two goals in just 10 minutes.

"The CSL is getting harder and harder and you have to focus from the very beginning of the match."

The loss gave credence to the notion that Evergrande's era of dominance could be coming to an end.

Last year's runner-up SIPG look like Evergrande's most likely challenger after Vitor Pereira's side's eight-goal obliteration of Dalian. But two other clubs tipped to challenge for the title did not fare so well.

Hebei China Fortune, with new Argentine signing Javier Mascherano starting in midfield, needed an 87th-minute equalizer to rescue a point in a 1-1 draw at Tianjin Teda, while Beijing Guo'an went down 3-0 at Shandong Luneng as Congolese striker Cedric Bakambu, signed from Villarreal in the offseason, endured a frustrated start to his career in China.

Elsewhere, a double from French striker Anthony Modeste helped last season's third-place finisher Tianjin Quanjian to a 4-0 triumph at Henan Jianye.