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Robson Sharuko Senior Sports Editor
ZIMBABWE international forward Nyasha Mushekwi’s club Dalian Yifang suffered a baptism of fire on their return to the Chinese Super League after they slumped to an eight-goal humiliation at the hands of a Shanghai SIPG side inspired by the brilliance of their Brazilian duo of Oscar and Hulk.

The 31-year-old Mushekwi, who has been the subject of speculation of a move from the team he helped power into the Chinese top-flight league with a club-high 16 goals last season in which they won the second-tier Chinese League One, was not part of the squad for the match against Shanghai SIPG.

It could not be established last night whether Mushekwi is battling injury as he was the standout player during pre-season, which took them to South Korea, and scored in two of the three matches he featured for Dalian Yifang.

He is still listed on the club’s official website as a Dalian Yifang player and the team also notes that even his transfer value has risen in recent weeks to about €2 (about US$2.4 million), owing to his remarkable goal-scoring feat.

Dalian Yifang paraded the three players they acquired recently, Portuguese defender Jose Fonte from English Premiership side West Ham, Belgian winger Yannick Carrasco and Argentine winger Nicolas Gaitan from Spanish giants Atletico Madrid.
And they all endured a nightmarish start to life in the Chinese top-flight league on Saturday with the eight-goal humiliation.

Chinese Super League clubs are supposed to field, in one game, three foreign players and Dalian Yifang have off-loaded Ivorian forward Yannick Boli and Argentine defender Jonathan Ferrari to make up for the new arrivals.

It could even have been worse as the hosts had 24 attempts at goal against a side that offered very little in return and looked out of sorts at this level of the game with their Brazilian stars Hulk and Oscar running the show with aplomb.

Carrasco, who was played as the leading forward, had a miserable introduction to the game in China as his heat map showed his main position all day long to be around the centre circle where he restarted the game for the humbled visitors nine times after they had conceded.

The Belgian forward is reported to be on a wage package of around £8.8million (about US$12.172 million) a year in his Chinese adventure.

Oscar, the former Chelsea star, scored a hat-trick, including an opener in the very first minute of the match, while Hulk converted from the penalty spot in the first half and assisted his compatriot with another goal in the second half of this goal feast.

Chinese international Wu Lei also grabbed a hat-trick.
It was always going to be a tough affair for Dalian Yifang against the Shanghai giants who finished as runners-up in the Chinese Super League last year and, according to Forbes, are the third-most valuable football club in China, with a club value of over $159 million and estimated revenue of $37 million as of three years ago.

However, not many would have predicted the eight-goal humiliation that followed. “To win 8-0 is the result of team work,” said Shanghai SIPG Portuguese coach Pereira. “It wasn’t me out there scoring the goals, but the players.

“I appreciate the spirit they showed and I want to also thank the fans.
“We had limited information on Dalian but I know their foreign players well. We knew we couldn’t afford to give them any space to hit us on the counter-attack and I used some videos to show my players how we needed to deal with losing possession.

“It was a very entertaining game and of course I’m satisfied with the team and our young players. We didn’t concede any goals. As you know, usually when we score our organisation at the other end is poor, but today we managed not to concede and that’s the main reason why I’m so happy.”

The league has been making waves around the world and recently Cedrid Bakambu became Africa’s most expensive player when he joined Beijing Guoan. The 26-year-old, who is set to take on the Warriors in a Nations Cup qualifier in September, joined the Imperial Guards on a four-year deal after meeting Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)’s £35.4 million release clause.

Dalian Yifang’s next match is another tough away fixture against Guangzhou R&F next Saturday who won their derby against Guangzhoe Evergrade 5-4 in another high-scoring match at the weekend.