John Mikel Obi, who is expected to create goal scoring opportunities for Nigeria at the world cup, reminded fans that he still knows where the back of the net is himself as he found it for his club this weekend in China.
The former Chelsea ace scored his first goal of the season in his club's (Tianjin Teda) 2-1 win over Guangzhou R&F F.C. on match day six in the Chinese Super League on Saturday, April 14 - and what a goal it was!
Spotting the number 10 jersey, Mikel received a pass deep inside the opponent's penalty box, shrugged off a defended who was tight-marking him and cleverly back-heeled the ball sublimely into the back of the net to make it 1:1 at that point. Guangzhou R&F had actually opened the scoring through Zhizhao Chen in the 9th minute before Mikel's effort brought parity in 27 minutes. In the 29th minute, it was 2-1 to Tianjin Teda after Jiakang Hui scored with a header and Mikel was in the penalty area waiting to take advantage of any lose balls. Following their second win of the season, Tianjin Teda occupy the eighth position in the provisional standings with eight points. Mikel, who has started and completed every single game played by the club so far this season, had been deployed as a defender before but now appears to be played in a more offensive role.