Super Eagles Captain Mikel Breaks Six-Month Goalscoring Drought For Tianjin Teda

Published: October 28, 2018

Former Chelsea star John Obi Mikel netted his first goal in six months as Tianjin Teda were beaten 4-2 by Shanghai Shenhua on game week 27 in the Chinese Super League on Sunday, October 28.

The Super Eagles captain had not scored in a competitive game since finding the net against Guangzhou R&F on April 14 prior to today's clash at Tianjin Olympic Center Stadium.

Giovanni Andres Moreno scored with a header to open the scoring for the visitors in the 14th minute, only for Mikel to restore parity eight minutes later.

A free-kick taken by Li Yuanyi was punched away by goalkeeper Li Shuai and the rebound fell to Ghanaian Frank Acheampong, whose shot was directed into the net by Mikel.

The Nigeria number ten was culpable for the second goal conceded by Tianjin Teda after he failed to clear the ball out of danger and Jianrong Zhu capitalized on the mistake to score.

With three rounds left to play in the Chinese Super League, Tianjin Teda are 14th on the 16-team table with 28 points.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel