Ayew, Gyan debut in a grand style

Asamoah Gyan and Andre Dede Ayew made their club debuts in a grand style and set the tone for what is expected to be successful campaigns for the Ghanaian stars.

Last Wednesday, Ayew play a key role in his first game for Swansea as they held German side Borussia Monchengladbach 1-1 in the first of two pre-season games against Bundelsiga opponents.

On Thursday, it was the turn of Black Stars captain Gyan to hit the ground running at his new Chinese club as he scored the match winner which gave Shanghai SIPG a 2-1 win over Tianjin Teda and propelled his club to the top of the Chinese Super League.

Swansea boss Garry Monk deployed Ayew on the left wing in a match in which Matt Grimes celebrated his 20th birthday with an equalising goal after Monchengladbach had taken the lead through Ibrahima Traore.

Despite the enduring sweltering conditions in which the match was played and required lengthy water breaks in each half, Monk said he was pleased not only with the result but also the performance of Ayew and three other new signings.

Swansea will play four more pre-season fixtures - 1860 Munich, Reading, Nottingham Forest and Deportivo La Coruna - before their Premier League campaign kicks off against Chelsea on August 8.

For Gyan, it was a fairy-tale start to his lucrative contract at the Shanghai club, after coming on from the bench to head home the match winner in the 80th minute.

The Black Stars captain, who sealed a $350,000-a-week deal last week, had only trained once with his new club last Wednesday but Shanghai SIPG coach Sven-Goran Eriksson considered him fit enough to start the game off the bench.

The striker not only won a penalty kick which was converted by Davi to cancel out Barcos’ 36th minute opener but scored the decisive goal that enabled Shanghai SIPC overtake Beijing Gouan at the top of the Chinese ahead of their blockbuster clash on Monday.