Victor Osimhen was on target as Lille booked a place in the semi-final of the Coupe de la Ligue following a 2-0 win against Amiens SC in their semi-final tie at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy on Wednesday night, reports Completesports.com.
Luis Araujo opened scoring for Lille five minutes after the break.
Osimhen then added the second goal eight minutes later with a calm finish after he was set up by Boubakry Soumare.
Also Read: Ndidi To Undergo Surgery After Picking Up Injury In Leicester Training
Osimhen has now scored two goals in two appearances for Les Dogues in the competition.
In England, Kelechi Iheanacho scored the equalising goal for Leicester City in their Carabao Cup semi-final first-leg 1-1 draw against Aston Villa at the King Power Stadium.
Iheanacho took the place of Ayoze Perez in the 69th minute.
He worked the ball onto his left foot and slammed it into the net after receiving a pass from Jamie Vardy in the 74th minute cancelling out Frederic Gilbert opener for Aston Villa.
By Adeboye Amosu
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COMMENTS
Leicester City came back from a goal down to draw 1:1 against Aston Villa today in the EFL Cup with our own Iheanacho grabbing the headlines for all the right reasons.
Receiving a pass from Jamie Vardy just outside the 18 yard box in 74 minutes, substitute Iheanacho raced into the dangerous area, cutting into his favourite dangerous left foot before killing off the defender and then riffle the ball in the back of the net with such force that it almost went through it!
Awesome!
In all, Iheanacho spent only 21 minutes on the pitch, scoring with the only 1 shot he had on target whilst he had 9 touches and delivered 4 accurate passes (66%)
In fact, the striker has now averaged a rating of 7.5/10 across all competitions this season.
If you put in context, this is the sort of ratings averaged by the likes of Sadio Mane and Mohammed Salah (admittedly over many more games – Iheanacho has only played a handful of games this season).
Still, 6 goals in 8 games in England is a phenomenal achievement for a player many have written off not that long ago!
Just when he thought he was the undisputed number 9 of the Super Eagles, Osimhen now has a resurgence Iheanacho breathing down his neck!
Still, Osimhen just has to keep doing what he does best and this evening was no exception.
The Super Eagles sharp shooter further enhanced his reputation with a performance that earned him a mammoth rating of 7.1/10.
Against Amiens in tonight’s Cup competition, Osimhen played 90 minutes having 25 touches while laying 9 accurate passes.
He won 4 out of 6 aerial dual and ultimately bagged himself 1 goal for his troubles – bringing his tally for the season to an impressive 14 goals across all competitions.
With Iheanacho back fit and firing, will Osimhen be willing to vacate a position that Iheanacho believes is rightly his in the national team?
Osimhen has 4 goals in 9 games for Nigeria whilst Iheanacho has 8 goals in 23.
@deo
Just in the lighter mood, and for fun. Let’s complete the maths you started. My high school maths is very rusty, decades ago. Just a try. Some people with tertiary degrees in maths/engineering can bail us out.
The strengths of their performance should be the ratios of their goals to matches played, right?
Therefore, Osimhen’s output stands at 4:9, while Iheanacho stands at 8:23. These worked out ratios are too close to call!
History of the changing baton for Super Eagles most prolific striker in the last decade
1. Osazee Odemwingwe
2. Ike Uche
3. Emmanuel Emenike
4. Kelechi Ihanacho
5. Odion Ighalo
6. Victor Osimhen
Now the big question is will Kelechi take back the baton he dropped now that Victor has picked it already. Or will Victor keep it and make it his for some years to come.
Time will tell.
Thanks Achi.
I guess another way to look at it would be to see how Iheanacho performed in his first 9 matches for the Super Eagles to compare with Osimhen.
Whilst Osimhen has scored 4 goals in his first 9 games to date for Nigeria, an Iheanacho full of confidence scored 7 goals in his first 9 matches for Nigeria (and I not good at maths so please help me out with the ratio difference).
Also, whilst Osimhen’s goals came against Ukraine, Lesotho and Benin, Iheanacho’s initial 7 goals came against Mali, Luxembourg, Tanzania, Zambia (former Afcon winners), mighty Senegal, Togo and a delightful header against the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon (multiple Afcon winners).
These were very worthy opponents.
Outside all those was his unforgettable curling freekick against Argentina. If memory serves me right, I think it was the last time the Super Eagles scored directly from a free kick.
We all now know that there are 2 versions of Iheanacho: one high in confidence and one low in confidence.
If the high conference one can be sustained, then Osimhen has a fight in his hands (or legs as the case may be) to retain the automatic number 9 jersey for Nigeria (just my opinion, nothing scientific).
Deo and fellow fans of Kelechi welcome to 2020 our GEM is back again. I pray he will keep this momentum up and stay level headed because an inform Kele will destroy any team wether Barca or Madrid. Can’t wait to see a combo of Kele Chukwu and Osimhen. And I’m still hoping and praying Alampasu is brought back to regain his confidence as I feel he’s the heir to Vincent instead of this on and off usual suspects we have at the moment!
I think they can play together. I remembered the away match against zambia, where kelechi and ideye played upfront together and we can have samu and iwobi operating from the flank.
Absolutely,@ deo.Osimhen indeed has a fight to contend with the rampaging and hugely experienced Iheanacho.
Actually,this is a job for the national coach to work out who among this two nimble footed strikers should start games,because he stands to see them at close range and tactically as well,because opponents varies and players are picked in this regards.
Having said that,in my opinion i’m okay either of them starting or both as the case may be.
Looking at the strength of the league and conversion ratio by game times,Iheanacho is in the lead.His international compatriot Osimhen is yet to prove his mettle against stronger oppositions for the national team which Iheanacho has in previous games.
However,we are happy indeed because Iheanacho’s form has quickly helped us to forget the lose of Abraham.Now we have two dependable strikers who can stand their own at the highest level.
Going into the difficult African world cup qualifiers,you need your best legs to be at their best to achieve that goal and we are on course to achieving that feat from the look of things.
I think we should find a way of playing these 2 together.
Victor is an out and out finisher, can be a target man and rove too. He’s a complete striker.
Kele is as deadly, but can be maximized in the supporting striker role – he’s got good vision, pass accuracy, intelligence on the ball, and deadly pinpoint finish anywhere around the 18 yard box.
The few times we have played the 3-5-2 we have done excellently well. And the crop and depth of players we have now are suited for that formation.
These are the things the NFF technical committee/department of pretenders should be working out with Gernot Rohr rather than busying themselves with vetting lists and owning players’ economic rights.
I think d two can play together just like vardy and ihenacho. A 4:4:2 is not bad for d super eagles.izoho:Aina,ekong, ajayi/omeruo,awaziem/collin: chukwueze, ndidi, iwobi/aribo, miss/iwobi/Dennis/kalu/Simon: ihenacho, osimhen
Musa*
What about maja. Ejuke. Dessers. ? Do you think iheanacho is better than the three. Kelechi is deadly striker. Still needs to work hard on physic, power, footwork,arial combats and ball possesion. If he can borow these artitude from iwobi and then teaches iwobi how to shoot acurately meen both of them will be great. For now i prefer osihmen Sadiq and dessers for top 9 position. iheanacho should compete for second striker or flanks that is quite assured roles for him.
Iheanacho is better as a souporting striker he can play together with osimen in a 4-4-2 or 3-5-2 formation. our players are realy doing well in their clubs the problem is the coach because we dont have a good coach to bring out the best from the players.
I will in support 4:1:3:2 formation. Or what do you guys think? 4 at the back, Ndidi at their front, then 3 at the front of Ndidi and Osi & Kele at the fore front. So that Ndidi can function well just as he functions well for L.C.. what do you guys think about this?
@Pompei and @Dr Drey Were you not the ones saying Kelechi Iheanacho should leave leicester City?????? and, I told you all it “SHOULD NOT AND WILL DEFINITELY NOT” happen… its the best club for him right now until he is ready.
In terms of Iheanacho and Osimhen they are both good and both have the X factor. Osimhen I think just edges Iheanacho a little bit for now when it comes to hunger and self belief, Victor Osimhen has a stronger mindset and self belief than Kelechi Iheanacho thats where he edges him for now. However in saying that under Rodgers I think Ihenacho is slowly rapidly believing in his talents again because Pep Guardiola really crushed anyway that’s all in the past. They both will be involved in the Super Eagles for years to come.. God willing.
Please I don’t want to hear Ahmed Musa’s Name in this forum again LOLZ!!
Hehehehehe….make e kuku die dia na. Shebi na from leicester in ancestors come from. Make dem even build statue and shrine for dia for am.
Let him die on LCFC bench deputizing for Vardy or ourtrightly being outside matchday squads even if teams who are ready to make him their 1st choice striker come for him.
later una go dey cry say una players nor dey Africa XI. Lolz
@Dr Drey go back and look at the Careers of Luis Suarez and Phillipe Courtinho and, tell me who helped them take their game to the next level. I am sure you will find that it was a certain Brendan Rodgers when he was coach of Liverpool. Not every coach has the ability to nurture players, only a certain or hand full. I.e Brendan Rodgers, Jurgen Kloop , Pep Guardiola ( pity he hates African players) and Carlo Ancelotti to name a few…
Bros be careful what you wish for believe me Kelechi is not ready to lead an attack just yet let Brendan continue his work on him. Pep Guardiola really crushed the boys morale in his time at Man City. Be careful what you wish for @Dr Drey
Oga….this your overtly glorious praise of Rogders.
Suraez played better football at Ajax (159 games, 111 Goals & 68 assists) compared to under Rodgers (133 games, 82 Goals & 47 assists) and has gone on to play is best yet at Barca. Coutinho also played his best football at liverpool under Kloop doubling his usual figures per season, compared to under Rodgers. Biko, Rodgers didn’t take any of them to any next level.
Quit this your argument…the Iheanacho we are seeing now is he one we have known from his days at man city, the one with the best goal to game ratio in the EPL. Rodgers has not taken his game to any next level. He is at the level we all knew of him before he allowed fame, wealth and social life to get into his head and affect his football.
Yea Rodgers can be credited for having some patience and belief in the lad. But it is the boy who has done the bulk of the work for himself having seen his career fall so deep he was completely out of the EPL team for almost the whole of the first half of the season. The reason Kelechi is still a Leicester player till this moment is because they werent able to recoup the amount the used in signing him from Man city as no team was ready to pay 35m for a player who was on the decline. They will still have to pay Man city 15% of whatever transfer fee they get for Iheanacho. So they were forced to hold on to him and sign Ayoze Perez in his stead for this season.
No coach takes a player to the next level by freezing him out of his 1st team. Just as I said earlier, If other good teams who are willing to make him a guaranteed starter come, let him prefer to sit on LCFC’s bench.
At the moment, he is 4th choice behind Vardy, Perez and Gray. Islam Slimani will be back from his loan deal at the end of the season. Rodgers is preparing another 30m bid for another striker whom he has described as “game-changer, wonderful player, shown speed intelligence and finishing and can occupy defenses”.
So maybe when Kelechi becomes a 6th choice striker, he will come to his senses.
Enough said already.
@Dr Drey Kelechi Needs to be at the level where if he is given the chance he needs to come in and make an impact its that simple that’s what Brendan Rodgers and I believe we all in this forum want.
How many chances has he had since he came on against Everton and changed the game??? a lot. I mean he started against Aston Villa where he played well. then against Norwich he was given another chance he failed he slowed the game down and caused an embarrassing calamity with the throw in, in which he was meant to give the ball back instead because of being in a hurry to impress he tried to attack…. He was also given another Start against Burnley but did not have the desired impact and was Subbed off in the 60th minute he is actually ahead of Gray, Barnes and Perez bros in the pecking order. Brendan Rodgers wants him at a level where if he plays he scores or assists and is involved with regards to movement and play. Or you think if he goes to another club with lessor experienced coaches he will be given the same patience?????. NO!!! Rodgers likes him and believes in his ability. And Kelechi Iheanacho is getting the chances he needs to grab the bull by the horn are you not following it or are you just talking.
Mind you he will probably if not definitely start again because he scored last night. What you need to ask yourself is will he take the chance` this weekend. Bros Kelechi is a regular player now in Leicester. if you watch them you of late you will know that. He just needs to show the coach with out a shadow of the doubt that he and Vardy are the main guys. And he is working towards that Allow the transition to happen abeg!!.. Brendan Rodgers means well and is doing a great job with Kelechi.
This is Leicester City and the English Premier League its not childs play. A player needs to be consistent and prove himself Week in Week out thats what happens in top 4 clubs in England Spain or Germany. At the moment Kelechi is slowly doing that not there yet.
Key word is consistency and, he has been given the chances. Leicester City are fighting for champions league place so the coach needs game changers and winners. I personally want to see Wilfred Ndidi and Kelechi Iheanacho playing champions league football together.
What do you want him to run to a Aston Villa or Norwich??? Abeg No!! Naija no dey carry last we face our challenges head on and conquer them. Who would have thought that Leicester would be 2nd in the league?, when last did Nigeria have players performing well in a top 2 team in England???? that’s another question you need to ask yourself my dear @Dr Drey
@Ugo Iwunze
I agree with your submission.
I believe Iheanacho is at the right place he should be at the moment. Not all transfer turns out good. Sometimes,it is not always right to run away from your fears.you face them head on and fix them or you get to meet them somewhere else.
Yes. He could go to another club and become a regular,but who says he would make a positive impact over there ,who says he would get the quality of service and management he is getting at Leicester right now.
There are some players that aren’t meant to be top dog,but are top class and valuable to their specific teams. There impact is much felt positively that way.
Solskjaer,Sheringham, Nuno Gomes,Pedro,Voeller etc. All comes to mind.
They were all in the same shoes like Iheanacho, weren’t really the top guys,but were always the go to guys when necessary and they created legacy.
The state of Iheanacho right now he needs this one season under Rodgers in Lfc. He should take his time and chance like he is doing right now. From all correlations, he is having a fantastic season and he is fast becoming an unsung hero in the minds of the Leicester city faithfuls. He seriously needs this to build his mental strength back and more so his physical prowess and do what what he knows what to do best.Assist and score goals .
The future would take care of itself.
Any right thinking coach will play osihme ahead of iheanacho any day any time , reasons being that osihme is faster, more hungry and out and out striker, there’s no debate about that! Why no one is talking about dessers,maja and Dennis again?
I think both Osimhen and Iheanacho can play together in a 4-4-2 combo or 3-5-2. I will prefer the former due to Kelechi’s deadly passes that can be of delight to Osimhen. Those two will be SuperEagles front runners for years to come as mentioned above. They both will form a formidable partnership that will be feared both in Africa and on global stage for the next decade or so. I can’t wait to see them play together in our next matches coming up. Those two along with Ndidi and possibly Chukwueze are Nigeria’s hope of winning the African Player of the year APOY since the 1990s. #FLY LIKE AN EAGLE INTO THE FUTURE#
I think maja is to partner osihmen in the future. For he plays better than iheanacho. Maja is skill full,plays both legs perfectly and passes the ball very well. Scores margical goals unexpectedly he can also play the number 10 role. Maja and osihmen will be like suarez and cavani combination of uroguay. Maja is future suarez
i pity some people that still enter 2020 with an empty skull.
_even deadbody know that osimhen is a natural out and out striker. and kele is an attacking midfielder, that play top9 due to his clinical and composure in front of goal.
_till now kele playin pattern shows he is a secondary striker and not a primary striker like osimhen.
_kele can only play behind osimhen.
_when talk about top9. we call osimhen,desser,maja,akpom,onuachu,ighalo.
_kele is a good attacking midfielder i know at 2013 worldcup. osimhen is a good top9 i know at 2015 worldcup.
_how can this people compete 1spot? make we dey tok wit sense o.
With the number of strikers we have now, I think it is high time we revert to our traditional 4-4-2 formation. We will be undermining the potential of our strength in the attack if we still continue with 4-3-3 formation. Nigeria is blessed to have that Maja guy, in few years from now, England will regret losing the him. All in all the good old days are back again with our young guns firing from all cylinders all across Europe.
It is beautiful to know we got so much quality in the marksman position right now,if well managed by the coach (in terms of tactics and play),it can only come good for Nigeria.
Be that as it is ,the in form attack we got right now share similarity in their knack for goals but differ in playing style and positional ability.
Osimhen is more of the typical 9;fox in the box and a good points man. His weakness is his temperament and first touch control.These are things he could easily work on. His temperament is one of aggressiveness, though could be useful, but sometimes,it could be counter productive. He should learn to manage it.
Iheanacho could as well play as a fox in the box due to his technical ability and positional prowess.he reads the game well. Albeit,he is best suited playing behind a top 9,sitting deep in that hole or as false 9 to give width to his team mates on the attacking end. For me, Iheanacho is well rounded player as an attacking threat. His weakness is his physicality (He loses fitness easily) and his mental strength. If Iheanacho keeps fit,stays in shape and stays focus on football and let social vices be.He is top class.
Dessers is the classic number 9.one more likened to the Yekini. His strength lies in the box,and he has the guile to bring his team mates in. He is a top point man. His weakness is no fault of his so far,it is mainly the unknown. Right now, he lacks the exposure and experience playing against top oppositions and in international football. So one can’t really judge. But he deserves his chance.
Maja is almost similar to Martial. He has the skill to play from the wings and also to play as a top 9.His weakness is the fact he seem to fade out as the game progresses. That could be sorted out by personal management and tactical management.
With all due respect to those doing great not mentioned,Onuachu, Simi,Umar,Olayinka,Kayode etc;
For me,the above 4 ,should rightly be the forbearers of the Eagles attack right now in terms of all round productivity,especially due to the high tempo and high level they play in week in, week out.
Besides, we still have quality wingers and an attacking midfield that got goals in them as well.(Kalu,Samu,Aribo,Iwobi ,Dennis,Musa,Simon,Ejuke); and we can only justifiably play with so much. The future could be different and there might be improvement from the excluded or there might be someone new on the block coming in.
For now, I don’t envy the coach of the Super Eagles.He got a lot on his hands.
You nailed it @ Drey. Nacho holds the knife. He alone should share the bread as he deems fit. If he goes ahead to cheat himself, he only will have himself to blame. We can only wish him well. But in my opinion, he is too good to be on the bench. He should be a leader in his team like Osimene now is at Lille. Afterall,just like Osimene, he won best player at u-17. Knife cut through quickly when hot n sharp but when cold/blunt, it might struggle to cut through butter. Experience tell us to make hey while sun shines.
In my own opinion, I think he should stay in LFC. I obviously think he had the quality to bench Perez, and Gray. The only reason why perez was playing ahead of kele is because Brendan Rodgers was the one who bought him. Havimg said that, not many coaches knows how to use kelechi. He is not your out and out striker, rather more like a supporting striker. So, if he has to leave, he should go to a club, that operate a system that suit his style of play. If not his situation might be worse than now.
You sabi ball this is the reason why I feel Kelechi can play without benching Osimhen since the two plays different roles, just that Kelechi being clinical in front of goal from u17 days makes pep and others think he’s an out an out striker.
I see the interest and love for Nigeria and the se huzzing all over our comment.As una want make e better for Niger,I pray say I go better for una jooo.
On this platform I said severally that There was nothing wrong with Kele,but only needed a Coach who trust him.He was kept in bench,the natural result of that is rustiness,though glad Kele is back and doing well, my comment today is not centred around him.
I have taken time to study the resurgence in the no.of players of Nigeria origin and I can’t but express my joy and admiration.Even the 1994 set cannot boost of having players of that calibre.I saw the video of a certain JESSE SEDIDIKA,WHO has now bagged a 4 and half year deal with Galatersarey and am so overwhelmed with joy.
I know that not all players of Niger origin doing well overseas(as in this case) can play immediately in se,infact Many of them might not even get to play for Niger ever,but the simple fact that this guys are doing well in their various clubs will serve both as boost and challenge to the players playing presently in se,as within their minds “if I sleep a bit am gone”.Leon Balogun has suddenly gone into oblivion cos of club form while we readily have replaced him.This competition will certainly make the se better and thicker.
In all Jesse is a fine player who carries the attributes of Samu, Bonaventure,Simon and Kalu put together, he deserves a look in.
One love.