Cedric Bakambu was on the scoresheet in Beijing Guoan’s 2-1 defeat by Shanghai SIPG in Saturday’s Chinese Super League Group B game.
The 29-year-old striker was afforded his sixth appearance in the division and shone, although his effort was not enough to help his side continue their impressive start to the campaign.
After opening his account against Qingdao Huanghai, the Democratic Republic of the Congo international was handed a starting role at Suzhou Olympic Sports Centre.
Bakambu paired Xizhe Zhang in attack as Beijing Guoan aimed to extend their unbeaten run to six games after securing victories over Chongqing Lifan, Wuhan Zall, Tianjin Teda and Hebei CFFC as well as a draw against Huanghai.
The forward wasted no time to announce himself in the encounter when he opened the scoring in the 14th minute after he was set up by Gang Wan.
Beijing Guoan, however, failed to build on the fine start, allowing the Red Eagles to level proceedings through Shenchao Wang in the 27th minute.
Former Chelsea star Oscar then scored the winning goal with 14 minutes left to play to end the hope of Imperial Guards picking up a point in the game.
Bakambu featured for 87 minutes during which he struck four shots, made 22 touches and had 81% pass accuracy before he was replaced by Yuning Zhang.
The forward has been with Beijing Guoan since 2018 when he joined the side from La Liga club Villarreal and has scored 30 goals in 44 league games since his arrival at the Workers' Stadium.
Bakambu featured prominently last season as the Imperial Guards finished second in the Super League, scoring 10 goals in 16 league appearances.
The striker has also played for Sochaux and Bursaspor in Turkey before he moved to Spain to sign for Villarreal.
The 29-year-old was a France youth international before he switched his allegiance to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2015.
Bakambu has featured 29 times and scored 13 goals since he made his debut against Cameroon for the African country.
He will hope to continue his impressive performances when Beijing Guoan take on Shijiazhuang Ever Bright in their next league game on August 27.
