YAKUBU AIYEGBENI Pleased With Debut Goal

Nigerian striker Yakubu Aiyegbeni was not in the best physical condition, but coach of Chinese Super League club Guangzhou R&F FC, Farias , took a gamble which paid off.

The 29-year-old's 86th minute goal proved the match winner against city rivals Guangzhou Evergrande on Sunday.

Speaking to Jinyang - Express after the match, Yakubu said: ''I am very, very happy first time playing and scoring. Thanks to the support of my teammates, thanks to the coach's trust.''

Italian gaffer of Guangzhou Evergrande, Marcello Lippi, knew about the qualities of Yakubu Aiyegbeni before the game, and has assigned a defender to man-mark the physical forward.

An interesting episode took place during the match played at the Tianhe Stadium in front of 40, 000 spectators. Yakubu was felled to the ground by an opponent, then started complaining.

But when Yakubu looked up and saw Lippi standing next to him, he stopped complaining and started discussing with the Italian, who was a bit surprised at the gesture of the lovely Nigerian forward.

Yakubu Aiyegbeni will make his home debut on Sunday in the 18th round of matches in the Super League against Didier Drogba's Shanghai Shenhua.