Kelechi Iheanacho has reflected on his winning goal for Leicester City in the Emirates FA Cup win against Gillingham on Saturday afternoon.
The Foxes won the the contest 1-0 to proceed into the fourth round of the prestigious competition.
Iheanacho, who has struggled for regular playing time this season netted the winning goal four minutes before the hour mark.
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The 26-year-old finished off a Leicester attack with a sweet left-footed strike.
“It’s just instinct as a striker. People were around the box already so Vardy running at the front post, I was thinking he might cut it back so I just waited around at the edge of the box for the cutback and then it came to me and I finished. I thought he might cut it back and then it was a sweet finish,”Iheanacho told the club’s official website.
“It’s important to get the momentum. It’s a difficult team as well. We came here to win so that’s what we need to do. It is 1-0 but it doesn’t matter because we are going through.”
The forward has now scored 16 goals in 22 games in the Emirates FA Cup.
By Adeboye Amosu
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COMMENTS
Kelechi (senior man) always plays better as a support striker and not as the main striker in a 2 man striking unit as he does with James Vardy at Leicester. I hope the Super Eagles coach (Peseiro)is aware of this so he knows how to use him when he is invited to play for Nigeria. He could link up with either Victor Osimhen or Taiwo Awoniyi in attack for the Super Eagles. Thanks
Was it not thesame supporting striker role he played in the nations cup, that they failed to cross round 16, even of recent he played against algeria in that same position, i was a big fan of iheanacho and i have come to accept that he is not a strong footballer both physicaly and mentaly, the guy is talented no doupt but there have never been any improvement on that talent since he left man city, it has always been on and off, as gentle as Rohr he couldnt trust iheanacho bcos the guy lacks determination, for now i think sucess is the right man to play behind osimen if we must play two strikers, that guy is a bull, he is got thesame energy like osimen, very convident and strong on the ball i believe he will do better than the other strikers, he reminds me of amunike or eminike, sucess is a natural eagle, i remember the game he played against senegal in a friendly in london, i think it was is debut, the guy changed the game, it was as if he was the team captain the way he easily blend into that game.
Sentiments is the order of the day. Is it not better to judge players on current form rather than his previous exploits? His current stat shows he played 17 matches and his goal return is zero! You heard me, zilch! Odo rabata! This how we confuse the coaches. A good example is Ndidi used to a solid DM but his form has dropped and I do not want to see him anywhere near the SE. If only the fans and the SE handlers could be this objective. On current form, I will rather try out Akpom even though I am not really sold out on him.
If we continue along this path, success in our football will continue to elude us. We need to do things differently. I am happy the SE handlers are sounding out adarabioyo and looking to lure Okoli. It high time we move away from Ekong and Balogun. Another one to rid the team off is moses Simon. He has flattered to deceive too many times but knowing how we Nigerians operate, we won’t change a single thing and the heart ache continues. Our midfield is in a terrible state and no one seems to talking about it. Onyeka rarely gets game time, Ndidi is a poor imitation of himself, Iwobi is injured , Alhassan is injured , onyedika is just coming back from injury.. it is a complete mess. How come the handlers are not sounding out lesley ugochukwu? Where are the goal keeping options? I thought Ike Shorunmu would do it differently but he appears to following the path of his predecessor. We are still stuck with below average goal tenders, nothing has changed. I really do hope the handlers could change the state of our football .
I think we need to calm down. The next international fixture for the Super Eagles is more six weeks away so there is enough time for Peseiro and his team to select suitable legs for thr encounter.
Big performances are required from some big name players. Iheanacho has tried his best but he does need to pull his weight. Moses Simon dazzled in the Afcon group stages and he created some big moments in the games against Tunisia in the Afcon quarter final and the ill-fated campaign against Ghana.
We should not make it seem like Moses Simon has been a waste of space for Nigeria. But I think his days as a sure-banker starting 11 should be numbered.
If there is one player that has been poor in Super Eagles colours, I think it is William Troost-Ekong. Hardly three games go by without him becoming a WWF wrestler, scoring an own goal or causing a costly blunder. But I don’t advocate for his outright ouster, I just feel there should be other options in the starting 11.
Aribo had the chance of his life to cement his starting 11 position in the absence of Iwobi but he failed to grab the opportunity with both feet. Again Ghana in Abuja, even Etebo performed better that Aribo.
Even Osimhen needs to settle down in Super Eagles colours. He is all over the place. For me, I would even play Osimhen as a support striker (like Rohr did against Cape Verde in Abuja) I will partner him with a more phlegmatic centre forward like Onuachu, Akpom, Moffi or Maja.
I always said it that Ndidi doesn’t have a place in Peseiro’s pattern. The Portuguese Gaffer utilises two centre midfielders with the position of a full blooded defensive midfielder rendered redundant. This is not in any way a criticism of Ndidi. But, should Peseiro persist to fulfil all righteousness and retain Ndidi in his starting 11, he is sure to suffer a similar fate that Eguavoen suffered in Afcon second round encounter against Tunisia with Ndidi’s wayward shots, unimaginative passes and inadequate attacking movements.
The Super Eagles should go into 2023-2024 with great optimism and high expectations. The players are there, Peseiro just has select the right players, prepare them early and unleash them against our opponents.
There are Nigerian players out there eager for greatness. They are just waiting to deployed.