Shanghai Shenhua won their second game in a row despite Carlos Tevez’s absence as Gustavo Poyet’s team defeated Guizhou Zhicheng 2-0.
Tevez missed out due to a calf injury but goals from Fredy Guarin and Obafemi Martins gave Shenhua a win that moves them up to 10 points from the first six games of the season, six behind leaders Guangzhou R&F.
Head coach Gus Poyet didn’t mention how Tevez’s absence had affected Shenhua’s tactics.
“I’m very happy that we won,” Poyet said.
“Everyone knows that we haven’t been doing well in our away games, so this match was crucial to us.
“It was important that we scored first. There were a lot of opportunities for both sides before the goal and I thought we could have scored a third goal”, the Uruguayan manager said, as quoted by ESPN FC.
This victory, which helps Shanghai move up to sixth in the Chinese Super League standings raises the question whether the club really need Tevez to lead their front line.
Shanghai Shenhua scored 5 goals in the last 2 games and the team played with better fluidity than when Tevez was present.
Meanwhile, the £615,000-a-week striker has been under criticism recently after being photographed at Disneyland with his family.
Tevez has struggled for form since moving to China from Boca Juniors for €11 million in January, scoring on his CSL debut against Jiangsu Suning but failing to find the back of the net since.
There have been rumours about an early exit back to Boca for Tevez, but the 33-year-old claims he is happy to remain with his current employers.
“I’ve been here for two months. Me and my family are very fond of this place, it is a beautiful city. We have been living a happy life here,” Tevez said.
“I need to settle into the CSL as soon as possible in order to have better performances on the pitch,” he added.