PLAYER SPOTLIGHT: John Obi Mikel – Nigerian helps Tianjin Teda stop high-flying Beijing Guoan

Nigeria's John Obi Mikel

Monday Apr 09, 2018. 10:00

Nigerian midfielder John Obi Mikel helped his Chinese Super League (CSL) side Tianjin Teda claim a creditable away draw to high-flying Beijing Guoan this past weekend.

The Super Eagles skipper played the full 90 minutes as Tianjin drew 1-1 at the Workers’ Stadium in Beijing, with the hosts’ opening goal from Jonathan Soriano cancelled out by an equaliser from Ghana’s Frank Acheampong.

Guoan have been one of the pace-setters early on in the 2018 CSL season, but Mikel’s side were able to pick up a valuable away point and make something of a recovery following the previous week’s 2-1 loss at Jiangsu Suning.

Tianjin Teda will return to action this coming Saturday when they host Guangzhou R&F.

Mikel also took time out to pay tribute to the late Ray Wlikins, a man the Nigerian enjoyed a good working relationship with in his time at Chelsea.

The midfielder posted a picture of Wilkins on his Twitter timeline and added the caption: “RIP Ray Wilkins. A pleasure to have known you. A true gentleman. Today is a sad day for football.”

RIP Ray Wilkins. A pleasure to have known you. A true gentleman. Today is a sad day for football. pic.twitter.com/4Jqgzk41jN
— Mikel John Obi (@mikel_john_obi) April 4, 2018