In a focus match in the eighth round of the Chinese Super League, which ended on the evening of May 19, Beijing time, Changchun Yatai swept the Cangzhou Lions 4-2 away. In this game, Leonardo, a Brazilian foreign aid in the Yatai team, scored 4 goals alone and became the number one contributor to the team's victory.
In this game, Leonardo continued to start. 39th minute of the first half. Leonardo's low shot helped Yatai break the deadlock. In the 63rd minute, he assisted Tan Long to extend the score to 2-0. Just three minutes later, Tan Long returned the favor for assisting Leonardo to make it 3-0. In the 76th minute, Leonardo scored a hat-trick, the first hat-trick of the season.
It is worth noting that this is already Leonardo's 5th consecutive Super League goal. In 8 games, he scored a total of 7 goals, which is in line with the goals scored by Tarzan in 7 rounds, who has only 7 points in 7 rounds this season, while Yatai has 14 points in the first 8 rounds under Leonardo's explosion, twice as much as Taishan team. Also with this round's hat-trick, Leonardo surpassed the national football leader Wu Lei with 7 goals and temporarily led the top scorer list.
Seeing Leonardo in such good form after returning to the Chinese Super League, I believe that former Taishan manager Hao Wei, who is under investigation, will undoubtedly feel a pain in his face, because Leonardo is the foreign aid he can't look at and is close to giving up. In January 2020, Taishan spent a transfer fee of 2.1 million euros to bring in Leonardo. However, he was given up after scoring one goal in just eight games. Since then, Leonardo has been loaned out to Hebei, Ulsan Hyundai and Yatai.
Before the start of this season, former Taishan coach Hao Wei was still reluctant to give Leonardo, who had a good performance at Ulsan Hyundai last season, another chance to prove himself, even in the face of an aging foreign lineup. Thankfully, Leonardo is now owned by Shandong Taishan, and after seeing him shine in the Chinese Super League again, it is not known whether Taishan new coach Cui Kangxi will choose to retain the 25-year-old Brazilian goalscorer.