Espanyol’s Wu Lei has become the first ever Chinese player to score in European club competition when he poked home his side’s opener in a 2-0 UEFA Europa League Group H win against CSKA Moscow in the Russian capital on Thursday.
The 27-year-old striker finished off a route one move from the Barcelona-based team, latching on to a delightful through ball from Matias Vargas to lift over CSKA 'keeper and captain Igor Akinfeev after a goal kick was headed on.
That goal made Lei the first Chinese player to score in European club competition, either in the UEFA Champions League or Europa League.
Wu Lei becomes the first Chinese player to score in a European club competition.
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) October 3, 2019
A truly historic occasion. pic.twitter.com/Roli2BFAkz
Although Lei netted a header after 149 seconds against Swiss team Luzern in August - the club's fastest ever European goal - that strike came in the competition’s third qualifying stages, not the competitive stage of the tournament itself.
Lei has a habit of making history, already having become the first ever Chinese player to score in Spain's La Liga when he netted against Real Valladolid during a home 3-1 at RCDE Stadium last season.
1 - Wu Lei is the first Chinese player to score in any European competition ever (excluding Qualifyings). Pioneer@RCDEspanyol #RCDEspanyol @EuropaLeague #UEL @UEFAcom pic.twitter.com/G0ouEKDNO9
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) October 3, 2019
Espanyol won the game 2-0, bagging a second in injury after another direct move, pouncing when Anor Sigurdsson fumbled a header back to Akinfeev and subsequently gifted Victor Campuzano the chance to double the lead in the 95th minute.
The result means CSKA are rock bottom of the group and yet to record a victory in their two opening games, while Espanyol sit second with four points.
