CHINESE football clubs featuring Nigeria internationals had a poor start to the new Super League season as Tianjin Teda and Changchun Yatai went down in their opening matches on Saturday.
Tianjin Teda have in their fold Super Eagles players Mikel Obi and Odion Ighalo, while Changchun Yatai feature Brown Ideye.
The players, all of who had featured in the English Premiership, could not save their new clubs from defeats in their season openers.
Obi and Ighalo’s Tianjin Teda, playing away to Shandong Luneng, lost 0-2 to the home team. While Nigeria captain Obi saw full 90 minutes of action, his companion Ighalo was not listed at all for the match.
Scores had remained goalless at half time but Shandong came stronger into the match after the break with Binbin Liu’s goal separating the two sides in the 78th minute. Four minutes later, Senegal international and former Freiburg and Newcastle striker Papiss Cisse doubled the lead and sealed victory for his side.
In the other match, Ideye played throughout but could do little to save his new club from a 5-1 demolition by Shanghai SIPG. Former Chelsea player Oscar made the Shanghai SIPG winning team on Saturday.
Ironically, the away team, through Xiaodong Fan, had taken the lead in the 26th minute. But eight minutes later, Brazilian forward Hulk drew level from the penalty spot. His compatriot Elkeson scored his first of three goals in the 43rd minute.
After the break, the former Vitoria FC player added the remaining two in the 51st and 60th minutes with Lei Wu scoring the fifth in the 90th minute.
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