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FORMER Zimbabwe international striker Nyasha Mushekwi was on target yesterday as his Chinese side Zhejiang beat Ventforet Kofu of Japan 2-0 in the Asian Champions League.
It was Zhejiang’s first win of the campaign and they remain bottom of Group H after losing the opening two matches against Melbourne City of Australia (1-2) and Buriram United (1-4) of Thailand.
It was also Mushekwi’s first goal in the group.
The 36-year-old Mushekwi scored the second goal in the 58th minute and then taken out 20 minutes later.
Mushekwi is in his sixth season in China having moved there in 2018 when he joined Dalian Pro and then moved to Zhejiang the following year.
He has scored 90 goals in the six seasons there and currently has 17 in 21 games with two matches remaining.
Zhejiang are fourth in the Chinese Super League with 49 points from 28 games, 10 points behind leaders Shanghai Port.
Mushekwi is leading in a tight race for the Golden Boot, sharing pole position with Brazilian Leonardo while following closely are Wu Lei (16), Nemanja Covic (15) and Abdul-Aziz Yakubu (14).
Latest Group H Standings
P W D L F A D Pts
Melbourne 3 2 1 0 4 1 +3 7
Ventforet Kofu 3 1 1 1 1 2 -1 4
Buriram United 3 1 0 2 4 4 +0 3
Zhejiang 3 1 0 2 4 6 -2 3
NO JOY FOR MUSKWE
Zimbabwe international striker, Admiral Muskwe was in the starting line-up as Exeter City lost 0-2 away to Derby County in the English Ligue One on Tuesday night.
He lasted 74 minutes and was pulled out as Exeter sought an equaliser but they fell further behind five minutes later.
It was Exeter’s sixth successive defeat in the league after a promising start in which they won five of their opening eight matches.
They are now 18th in the 24-team league.
Muskwe joined Exeter on loan from Luton Town at the start of the season.
SERIE A WIN ELUDES ZEMURA
Zimbabwe international defender Jordan Zemura is still waiting for his maiden Serie A win after his Udinese side settled for a 1-1 draw at home to Lecce on Monday night.
Zemura was brought in as injury time substitute, playing just one minute. So far he has played in seven Serie A matches in the 2023/2024 season and accumulated 167 minutes of playing time.
Having made his Serie A debut against Juventus on August 20, every one of Zemura’s appearances this season have come as a substitute.
Zemura played 19 Premier League games last season for Bournemouth and created one assist before being frozen out of the team for refusing to discuss contract renewal during the season.
Online Reporter