Wu Lei single-handedly dismantled Guangzhou R&F's defence on Sunday afternoon as the China international scored four times to steer Shanghai SIPG to a 5-2 come-from-behind win that kept the club's perfect start to the Chinese Super League campaign intact.
Eran Zahavi and Xiao Zhi gave R&F a two-goal lead inside the first nine minutes as the home side raced out of the blocks, but by the 29th minute, SIPG were in front with Wu having claimed a hat trick.
Hulk put the visitors further ahead after the restart before Wu completed the rout 17 minutes from time as SIPG moved on to nine points from their first three games as the league goes into the international break.
"I'm very proud of my players," said Vitor Pereira, who took over as head coach ahead of the new season. "Given the conditions, it was not easy to play such an entertaining game.
"R&F are a strong team and it wasn't easy to come back after going two goals behind. We showed our spirit and our quality. It's not easy for any team to come here."
Zahavi, who finished last season as the Chinese Super League's top scorer, put R&F in front after just four minutes when he lashed the ball home and Xiao doubled his side's advantage five minutes later with a header.
Wu halved the deficit in the 17th minute and scored with his own spectacular effort 10 minutes later before claiming the third of a remarkable spell in the 29th minute as he beat goalkeeper Cheng Yuelei at his near post.
Hulk added SIPG's fourth from just inside the area in the 53rd minute before the Brazilian set up Wu, who netted his fourth with 17 minutes left when he side-footed home.
"We did our research on our opponents and set up our tactics accordingly," Pereira said. "We decided to use quick players in attack.
"Wu Lei, Hulk, Chen Bingbing and others are versatile and we worked on these combinations in training, too. And today everything went well."
Victory moved SIPG back to the summit and above Shandong Luneng, who defeated Hebei China Fortune on Saturday, on goal difference while R&F remain in third place despite the defeat.
Defending champions Guangzhou Evergrande, meanwhile, claimed their second win in a row, defeating Henan Jianye 1-0 thanks to a curling effort from Alan Carvalho that secured the three points for Fabio Cannavaro's side after Ricardo Goulart had earlier missed a penalty.
Frank Acheampong scored a hat trick, including the winner in the 90th minute, as Tianjin Teda handed local rivals Tianjin Quanjian a 3-2 loss. Giovanni Moreno gave Shanghai Shenhua a 1-0 win over Guizhou Hengfeng and Beijing Renhe were held to a 1-1 draw by Changchun Yatai.