Soccer-Robinho strikes twice to open Guangzhou account in China

Aug 22 (Reuters) - Brazil striker Robinho bagged his first goals for new club Guangzhou Evergrande, notching twice in a 4-2 win at Shanghai Shenxin on Friday to send the champions top of the table in China. The former Real Madrid and Manchester City forward had produced a sketchy first four displays since signing a six-month deal after leaving Santos in his homeland but found his feet against the Chinese Super League's bottom side. He slotted a low left foot finish under goalkeeper Zhang Yinuo to put Guangzhou 2-0 up just before the hour mark after Chinese international fullback Zhang Linpeng had opened the scoring. Robinho then struck a second low shot through the legs of the goalkeeper to finish a neat passing move by the four-times reigning champions and make it 4-1 with 10 minutes remaining. Guangzhou, coached by Brazilian World Cup winning coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, went top with 51 points from 24 matches but Shanghai SIPG, coached by ex-England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson, can regain first place with a win at Shanghai Shenhua on Sunday. (Writing by Patrick Johnston in Singapore; Editing by Ian Ransom)