Jiangsu Suning got some paid off as record signing Alex Teixeira scored his first goal with the club to help them beat Jeonbuk Motors 3-2 in the Asian Champions League on Tuesday.
Jiangsu paid 50 million euros (about 54 million US dollars) for Brazilian star Teixeira from Shakhtar Donetsk on February days after their 28-million-euro (about 30 million US dollars) purchase of Ramires from Chelsea.
Teixeira scored Jiangsu’s opener in the 16th minute with a low shot from outside the area. Former Everton and Manchester City striker Jo and Wu Xi restored the host’s advantage in the 66th and 69th minutes respectively after Lee Dong-Gook’s equalizer in the 61st minute.
Jeonbuk Motors made it 3-2 after an own goal by Jiangsu in the end of the second half.
Ramires was sent off for a push in injury time.
Jiangsu moved to the top of Group E with four points from two games. FC Tokyo is level on points with Jeonbuk after beating Binh Duong 3-1 at home.
Another Chinese club Shandong Luneng also claimed a victory as they beat Thai winners Buriram United 3-0 on Tuesday.
Shandong has so far won four games and scored 13 goals under the guidance of Menezes, the former boss of Brazil’s national team.
The Chinese Super League has spent almost 300 million US dollars on players in the winter transfer window, which made the competition of the Asian Champions League this season more fierce.
Guangzhou Evergrande has won two of the last three Asian Champions League tournaments, while the other Chinese clubs have struggled.
Chinese soccer fans expect to see the recent investments can make a difference for clubs like Jiangsu, Shanghai and Shandong.