Shandong Luneng continued their surprise start to the Chinese Super League season as Felix Magath's side moved to the top of the standings after Papiss Cisse scored twice to defeat Changchun Yatai 2-0 on Sunday afternoon.
The win was Shandong's third in a row and moves them level on points with Guangzhou R&F, who maintained their perfect start to the campaign on Saturday with a 1-0 win over Yanbian Funde.
Cisse gave Shandong the lead in the 59th minute before ensuring the points would go home with Magath's team by scoring another nine minutes from time.
"The first half was difficult but luckily we didn't fall behind," Magath said. "We found our own rhythm in the second half, but overall it was difficult to score. I'm happy we won in the end.
"I have to praise Dai Lin and Gil. Gil has been travelling with the Brazil national team and has just got back to China. He has shown what professionalism means.
"Graziano Pelle also did well. He's not only a goal scorer but he ran so much and did a lot of work for his teammates. It was his effort that helped create Cisse's goal."
Shanghai Shenhua missed their chance to move into third place as Gustavo Poyet's side were beaten 2-1 by Beijing Guoan.
Burak Yilmaz scored from close range in the 37th minute to give the club from the capital the lead, only for Cao Yunding to level three minutes later following a mix-up in the home side's defence.
However, a second Yilmaz goal three minutes from time sealed Beijing's first win of the season.
Jiangsu Suning's poor start to the campaign continued with Choi Yong-Soo's side still looking for their first league win of the campaign following a 3-1 loss against Liaoning Whowin that leaves last season's runners-up just one point off the bottom.
James Chamanga gave Liaoning the lead from the penalty spot in the 30th minute before Wang Song levelled seven minutes before the break.
But goals from Anthony Ujah and Yang Yu in the second half gave Ma Lin's side all three points.
John Obi Mikel scored his first goal for new club Tianjin Teda as the former Chelsea man helped to deliver all three points for the club with a 2-0 win over Chongqing Lifan.