Cedric Bakambu registered his 14th goal of the season to help Beijing Guoan secure a 2-1 victory over Shanghai SIPG FC in the first leg of their Chinese Super Lig Championship third-place playoff game on Saturday.
The 29-year-old centre-forward continued with his consistent goalscoring performances for the Imperial Guards at Suzhou Sports Center.
Bakambu was handed his 17th league start and made the most of the opportunity, scoring to help Bruno Genesio’s men return to winning ways after losing against Guangzhou Evergrande.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo international opened the scoring for the Beijing-based club in the 27th minute after he was set up by Gang Wang.
The strike from the former Villarreal forward ensured the Imperial Guards went into the half-break with a 1-0 lead.
After the restart, Beijing Guoan continued to push for more goals and came close to doubling their lead on a number of times.
Their unrelenting effort eventually paid off when Zhongguo Chi scored the second for Beijing Guoan with a fine strike.
Moments before the full-time Quanbo Guo turned the ball into his own net to deny the Imperial Guards an opportunity to keep a clean sheet, although they managed to hold on to their lead and secure victory in the encounter.
Bakambu featured for 75 minutes, made 28 touches on the ball and had a 86% successful pass rate besides his goal before he was replaced by Ziming Wang.
The forward has not only scored 14 goals in the current campaign, but he has also provided five assists in 19 league appearances.
Bakambu will hope to continue his spectacular performances when Beijing Guoan play Shanghai SIPG FC in the second leg of the playoff.
The attacker will be expected to replicate his spackling showings for the Democratic Republic of the Congo in their Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Angola on November 14 and 17.
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