Former Manchester City midfield man Yaya Toure experienced a disappointing ending to the Chinese League One season for Qingdao Huanghai on Saturday, after he was sent-off just 10 seconds into their season finale.
The 36-year-old Ivorian, who spent eight years at the Etihad Stadium, helping City win seven trophies during that time, including three Premier League titles, was dismissed for aiming a kick at an opposition player, a VAR review confirmed.
The match, which ended in a 2-1 defeat for Toure’s Qingdao Huanghai to Nantong Zhiyun, is understood to be Toure’s farewell appearance in China, just four months after he arrived in the country.
But despite the disappointing ending to the campaign for Qingdao Huanghai, it has proven to be an excellent campaign for the club as they have secured promotion to the Chinese Super League, just over six years after they were founded. The club achieved it by picking up 57 points from their 30 league games.
During his time at the club, Toure, who scored an array of important goals during his time with City, grabbed two goals and claimed three assists in 14 appearances.
The red card brandished in Toure’s direction was just the third of his career and his first in five years, on which occasion he was dismissed for City in a UEFA Champions League clash with CSKA Moscow.
With the Chinese League One campaign having now reached its conclusion, it is claimed that Toure will not be renewing his contract with Qingdao Huanghai.
Toure, of course, enjoyed plenty of memorable moments during his eight-year spell in Manchester, the most famous of which was his winning goal in the 2011 FA Cup Final against Stoke City, ending the Citizens’ 35-year wait for a major trophy.
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