China Super League
Obafemi Martins Powers Shanghai Shenhua to China FA Cup Final
BY BOLAJI OKUNOLA.
Former Super Eagles’ striker, Obafemi Martins has put his club, Shanghai Shenhua in the final of the Chinese FA Cup. He scored the vital away goal in the 0-1 defeat of rivals, Shanghai Shenxin in the return leg of the semi final match at the weekend.
Martins’ club had won the first leg 1-0 at home mid August and it appeared the team would have a mountain to climb in the return leg. But Nigeria’s 32 year old striker scored in the 79th minute to give his club a 0-2 aggregate win and a place in the final match to be played next month.
Martins’ Shanghai Shenhua will face Andre Villas-Boas coached Shanghai SIPG in the final. Obafemi Martin’s Shanghai Shenhua will host the first leg of the final match on November 18 while the return leg will hold on November 25.
China Super League
MIKEL OBI’S TIANJIN TEDA ESCAPES RELEGATION BY WHISKERS
Despite their 5-1 away loss to Guangzhou Evergrande, Mikel Obi’s Tianjin Teda escaped relegation on Sunday as only Changchun Yatai joined the already relegated Guizhou Hengfeng.
Changchun Yatai ended the 30-match week series with 32 points just like Mikel Obi’s Tianjin Teda and Chongqing Lifan. Incidentally, all the three clubs lost their last matches. But Mikel Obi’s Tianjin Teda and Chongqing Lifan escaped relegation owing to better head-to-head records with Changchun Lifan.
Prior to Sunday, the four teams above were in the relegation zone with an identical 32 points, and the losers between Changchun and Dalian would face more risks of becoming the second and last team to be relegated after Guizhou Hengfeng were already doomed with two rounds to go.
In their do-or-die match, the visiting Changchun missed their best chance in the beginning of the first half, as Dane international Lasse Vibe hit the wood.
A header from Duvier Riascos, top scorer of the 2010-2011 China Super League season, broke the deadlock in the 21st minute for Dalian who made it 2-0 in the 63rd minute when Belgian Yannick Ferreira Carrasco also found the net.
The 2-0 victory ensured Dalian to remain in the first tier league in China with 35 points.
Also on Sunday, Tianjin visited China Super League defending champions Guangzhou Evergrande and broke the deadlock first in the first half, before Guangzhou scored five goals later on for a season record of 82 goals.
Chongqing lost to Guizhou 1-0 and completed the season with 32 points, the same as both Tianjin and Changchun.
Elsewhere, Beijing Renhe tied Guangzhou R&F 0-0, Hebei China Fortune beat Beijing Guoan 2-1, Jiangsu Suning whitewashed Henan Jianye 4-0, Shanghai Greenland drew Shandong Luneng 2-2, and Tianjin Quanjian downed newly-crowned Shanghai SIPG 3-2.
China Super League
MIKEL OBI’S TIANJIN TEDA SUFFERS HEAVY LOSS IN BATTLE AGAINST RELEGATION
As the curtain falls on the current season of China Super League, Tianjin TEDA which Nigeria’s Mikel Obi plays for suffered a heavy defeat. The club on Sunday lost 1-5 away to Guangzhou Evergrande.
The heavy loss puts the club in the 13th position of a 16-team format. Injured Mikel Obi was not in action. Incidentally, it was Tianjin TEDA that drew the first blood early in the game as Brazilian; Johnathan Aparecido da Silva put the visiting team ahead after seven minutes.
Talisca levelled up for Guangzhou Evergrande in the 38th minute to put score lines at 1-1 at half-time. Guangzhou Evergrande went ahead in the 56th minute through Alan Carvalho who also scored the third goal in the 84th minute.
Four minutes later, Zheng Long scored the fourth goal before Wang Jinze wrapped up the rout two minute into the added time.
China Super League
BARCELONA’S MASCHERANO IS CHINESE LEAGUE-BOUND
Barcelona have come to an agreement with Chinese Super League club Hebei China Fortune for the transfer of Javier Mascherano.
The Argentinian midfielder-turned-defender is finally set to leave the Nou Camp after a highly successful stint – since arriving from Liverpool in 2010, the 33-year-old has won four La Liga titles, four Copas del Rey, three Supercopas de Espana and two Champions Leagues.
The fee in question is interesting – the clubs had been haggling with Barca not wanting to accept anything less than €10m and Hebei reluctant to exceed €5.77m.
They arrived at that particular figure because the Chinese Football Association announced last June that any club in the country’s top two divisions making a loss and paying more than €5.77m for a foreign player has to put that same amount into a CFA youth development fund – if the report from Goal is to be believed then evidently Hebei had no desire to do this.
The CFA made its voice heard on Tuesday by issuing a strong reminder to clubs regarding its transfer policy, amid stories that Guangzhou Evergrande and Beijing Guoan are locked in a battle to sign Borussia Dortmund’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Mascherano will join up with compatriot Ezequiel Lavezzi and former Arsenal winger Gervinho at Hebei, where he will rake in €7m-per-year.
The move signifies Mascherano moving into the final stages of his career following a fruitful period in Spain.
In recent times the former Corinthians star has been playing less and less for Barca, with Samuel Umtiti emerging as a fine prospect in central defence for the Blaugrana alongside Gerard Pique.
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