Super Eagles captain John Mikel Obi was the only Nigerian in action on the final day of the Chinese Super League as he helped his club Tianjin TEDA to a 1-0 win over Henan Jianye.
Playing in a central midfield position, Mikel ended his first Chinese league season by featuring for the full ninety minutes, receiving a 74th minute booking in the game settled by Senegalese Mbaye Diagne’s first half effort.
With their status in the CSL already secured for the next season, TEDA’s victory saw them leapfrog Saturday’s opponents Jianye to finish 13th on the log.
Elsewhere, Odion Jude Ighalo was expectedly missing in action when his side Changchun Yatai travelled to Beijing Guoan in their own final game of the season.
Ighalo who is already ruled out of Nigeria’s international matches against Algeria and Argentina starting from next weekend is sidelined with a knee injury.
In spite of the former Watford man’s absence, Yatai still ran out 2-1 winners as they end the 16-team league on seventh position.
In another game decided on Saturday, both Anthony Ujah and Obafemi Martins were not listed when their clubs Liaoning Whowin and Shanghai Shenhua respectively clashed in Shenyang.
With Ujah’s Liaoning confirmed relegated, Shenhua wrapped up their season with a spectacular 4-1 win away at the TND Sports Centre. Colombian Freddy Guarin was among the scorers for Martins’ Shenhua.
Guangzhou Evergrande, managed by Brazilian coach Luiz Felipe Scolari won the 2017 Chinese Super League season, finishing on 64 points, six ahead of Andre Villas Boaz’s Shanghai SIPG on 58 points.
