Shanghai Shenhua of China striker, Odion Jude Ighalo has received a huge and early Christmas gift, as he believes helping his side win this year’s Chinese Cup is a big yuletide package better than any before now, megasportsarena.com gathered.
The former Super Eagles star was all smile, as he joined his teammates in celebration, after the side won the FA Cup by beating Shandong Luneng 3-0 at Hongkou Football Stadium on Friday, and added that he was glad being a part of the second leg encounter.
His efforts helped The Flower of Shanghai overturn their 1-0 deficit from the first leg last month and, though he started the game on the bench, he was able to contribute his own quota to the victory after replacing one of his club’s scorers, Kim Shin-Wook.
Former AC Milan prodigy, Stephan El Shaarawy then pounced on Giovanni Moreno’s pass to outpace Shandong defence to hit an 81st minute back-breaker and Alexander N’Doumbou put the result beyond doubt two minutes later.
Ighalo, who started on the bench, took the place of Shin-Wook in the 67th minute but could not add to his tally of 10 goals in 19 appearances this season, even as his contribution helped Shenhua claim their fifth Chinese FA Cup title and booked a place in the 2020 AFC Champions League group stage.
It meant Ighalo and his pals had claimed a second FA Cup title in three seasons and will return to the Asian Champions League after failing to qualify for the 2019 edition, despite having finished 13th in the Chinese Super League (CSL).
Should Ighalo opt to stay put with Shenhua, rather than take up January transfer offers from the English Premier League, he will join the team alongside Guangzhou Evergrande and Beijing Guoan to represent China in next season’s AFC Champions League, while Shanghai SIPG that placed third in the CSL will feature in the continental play-offs next month.
Shenhua earlier ended the 2019 Chinese Super League season in 13th place with 30 points from 30 games, and Ighalo admitted he was excited to see the club’s surge in his first season wit them, for which he gave thanks to God and his well-wishers for the privilege he had being part of the victorious squad in The Oriental Nation.
Ighalo took to social media to celebrate his side’s victory, and a good way to end the year and ideal time for them to party, which he posted via his verified handle @ighalojude: “It ended in praise. Parte after partee. What a year .THANK YOU JESUS 🙏🏾 #favouredchild.”
