Jean Kouassi got a goal and an assist as Wuhan Zall recorded a 3-0 away victory over Qingdao Huanghai in Tuesday’s Chinese Super League clash.
The former Cote d’Ivoire youth international came into the encounter having found the net in Zall’s 2-1 triumph over Tianjin Teda the last time out.
Against Wu Jingui’s newly-promoted side, however, he continued with his impressive goalscoring form to inspire his team to their first away win of the season.
The visitors broke the deadlock in the sixth minute as Jinghang Hu fired past goalkeeper Zhenli Liu thanks to an assist from Liu Yun.
Hu completed his brace in the 34th minute with the Ivorian providing the assist as Jose Gonzalez’s men went into the half-time break with a two-goal advantage.
Kouassi completed the rout with his 67th-minute effort with substitute Zilei Jiang credited with the assist.
Despite a late rally from the hosts, they were unable to find the target as they recorded their third loss so far in the 2020-21 campaign.
After putting up an impressive shift, Kouassi - who now boasts of four league goals out of six games - was replaced with ten minutes left to play by Tong Zhou.
With this result, Wuhan are placed third in the standings of the Suzhou division with 15 points from eight outings, while Qingdao are sixth with seven points from the same number of ties.
“I am very happy to have won this brilliant victory,” manager Gonzalez told media after the match.
“We started the game very well, though our opponents put a lot of pressure on us.
“As for the standings, I think we should discuss it after all the matches. Each team is very close in strength and every match counts.”
Wuhan Zall face second-placed Beijing Guoan in their next league outing on Sunday, while Qingdao Huanghai would be chasing their second win of the season against Shijiazhuang Ever Bright FC.
After spending one season at Shanghai SIPG, the 25-year-old teamed up with Wuhan Zall on June 18, 2017. The Cote d’Ivoire star of the 2011 Fifa U17 World Cup scored his first goal against Dalian Transcendence.