Drogba, who only arrived in China under a fortnight ago, did not feature during the midweek Chinese FA Cup match against Changchun Yatai but played a leading role as Shenhua secured a point at Yuexiushan Stadium.

Brazilian defender Moises sent the ball into his own net after 22 minutes to hand the home side the lead.

However, Drogba delivered a decisive pass through to Cao Yunding and Chinese U23 international made no mistake, levelling proceedings with just over 20 minutes remaining.

Elsewhere, Guizhou Renhe produced a dominant second-half performance as they overcame struggling Shanghai Shenxin 3-1.

Johnny put the visitors ahead inside the opening five minutes.

But Yang Hao's equaliser six minutes after the interval rejuvenated Renhe and the hosts clinched victory with two goals in the final seven minutes from Chen Jie and Zlatan Muslimovic.

Defeat for Shenxin leaves them just one point clear of the relegation zone, while Renhe move into third, five points adrift of second-placed Jiangsu Sainty, who beat lowly Tianjin Teda 3-2 thanks to a first-half brace from Cristian Danalache.

In other results on Sunday, Changchu Yatai netted two goals in the final 19 minutes to trump Liaoning Whowin and end a two-game losing run, and Qingdao Jonoon suffered a 2-1 loss at the hands of Dalian Shide.