Bakambu grabs 10th goal of the season as Beijing Guoan triumph over Qingdao Huanghai

Cedric Bakambu scored his 10th goal of the season and provided an assist in Beijing Guoan’s 5-1 victory over Qingdao Huanghai in Tuesday’s Chinese Super League Group B game.

The forward was afforded a starting role at Kunshan Sports Center and made the most of the opportunity.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo international paired Alan in attack and helped his side return to winning ways in the division after playing out a draw against Hebei last time out.

Yang Yu ignited the goal surge for the Imperial Guards in the 14th minute with a fine effort after he was set up by Xizhe Zhang.

Bakambu then helped Beijing Guoan double their lead when he found Jonathan Viera with a timely pass in the 38th minute and the Spaniard swiftly buried his strike.

Fernando further increased the woes of Qingdao Huanghai moments before the half-time break with his effort.

After the restart, Viera made it four before Bakambu sealed the victory, tapping the ball into the net despite a late consolation strike from Denis Popovic.

The 27-year-old featured for the duration of the game, had 30 touches, struck five shots and made a 78% successful pass rate.

The victory helped Beijing Guoan maintain the second spot on the league table in Group B after gathering 25 points from 12 games.

Bakambu will hope to continue his eye-catching performances when Beijing Guoan square off against Shanghai Sipg in their next league game on Friday.

The striker has been with the Imperial Guards since February 2018 when he teamed up with the side from Spanish club Villarreal.

The centre-forward has also previously featured for French side Sochaux and Turkish club Bursaspor before he joined the Yellow Submarine.

Bakambu previously represented France at the U18, U19 and U20 levels before he switched his allegiance to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2018.

He has made 29 appearances for the African country, scoring 13 goals and was part of the team at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt.

The 27-year-old attacker will be expected to play a prominent role for his side in their Afcon qualifying games.