Alex Teixeira (R) of Jiangsu Suning vies with Ma Xingyu of Henan Jianye during the 8th round match between Henan Jianye and Jiangsu Suning at the postponed 2020 season of Chinese Football Association Super League (CSL) Dalian Division in Dalian, northeast China's Liaoning Province, Aug. 30, 2020. (Xinhua/Long Lei)
DALIAN, China, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- Ivan Santini scored a hat-trick to help Jiangsu Suning beat 10-man Henan Jianye 5-2 in a scintillating Chinese Super League game on Sunday.
The Croatian striker put the Jiangsu side 1-0 ahead eight minutes into play when he headed in a cross from the left side.
He made it 2-0 in the 14th minute as he back-heeled a pass from the former Italian international Eder into the goal through the legs of a Henan defender standing closely behind him.
Henan pulled two goals back before the break, the first through a penalty kick from Brazilian forward Henrique Dourado in the 42nd minute, and the second a long-range shot from midfielder Ni Yusong three minutes later.
Eder scored a scrambled goal in injury time of the first half to make it 3-2 for Jiangsu.
The Henan side suffered another blow in the 52nd minute when Ni was sent off for kicking Santini's head.
The Croatian completed his hat-trick in the 66th minute thanks to a gaffe from Henan goalkeeper Wu Yan. Wu met teammate pass from right before stretching his arms to see Santini rushed up to collect the ball from his feet and sent it into the empty goal.
Eder put icing on the cake in the 80th minute when he tapped in a cross from the right past the hapless Wu.
