Ba in the stands as Shenhua held
Print Edition
SHANGHAI Greenland Shenhua drew with city rival Shanghai Shenxin 1-1 at Yuanshen Stadium last night, with the club’s newly signed Senegal striker Demba Ba, who arrived in the city earlier, at the Pudong New Area stadium to cheer on his new teammates.
The host had a dream start when Shenxin’s unmarked Brazilian midfielder Everton headed in a Yu Tao pass in the sixth minute. Shenhua’s equalizer came in the 31st when Paulo Henrique stabbed in an accurate pass from teammate Cao Yunding.
Both teams created some good chances in the box in the second half, but failed to find the net again.
Shenhua started with only two foreign players — Henrique and Tim Cahill. It was without injured captain Giovanni Moreno and Avraam Papadopoulos, who was suspended due to an accumulation of yellow cards. It is now 11th in the Chinese Super League table on 19 points, while Shenxin sits at the bottom after collecting only eight points from 16 rounds. The other team in the relegation zone is Guizhou Renhe on 11 points.
“We don’t give up until the last moment,” Shenxin’s Yu, a Shenhua ex-captain, said in a post-match interview.
Shenhua head coach Francis Gillot said he’d not been informed yet about which foreign players would be leaving the team following the arrival of Mohamed Lamine Sissoko and Ba. Though he said both newcomers will have to work on their stamina to get game-ready.
Ba arrived in Shanghai at 5:30pm yesterday. After medical and other formalities, he would sign a 3-year contract with Shenhua, which would pay a club-record 13.5 million euros (US$15.08 million) to Turkish side Besiktas for the 30-year-old. Ba watched the derby in the company of club deputy manager Zhou Jun.
The Senegal striker was the club’s second mid-season transfer signing after former Liverpool and Juventus midfielder Sissoko joined on Thursday. Sissoko was on the bench for yesterday’s game, with Shenhua saying the Mali international needs some adjustments in his form since he has been off the pitch for a month.
Ba also became the third former Chelsea player to join Shenhua after Nicolas Anelka and Didier Drogba. He scored 27 goals in 44 appearances for Besiktas last season. Shenhua hopes the latest signing would strengthen the team’s front line and help it reach its target of finishing in the top six in the 16-team CSL.
In other matches yesterday, Beijing Guo’an beat Chongqing Lifan 2-0 to claim sole leadership of the CSL with 33 points, one point more than Shanghai SIPG.
Defending champion Guangzhou Evergrande was surprisingly held 1-1 by Shijiazhuang Yongchang and is now third in the standing on 31 points. Shandong Luneng is fourth on 30.
On Saturday, Shanghai SIPG beat Jiangsu Sainty 4-1 in Nanjing, with Swedish striker Tobias Hysen scoring a brace. SIPG will take on Shenxin next Sunday in another intriguing Shanghai derby.
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