Leicester City of England attacker, Kelechi Iheanacho enacted a rare feat of two goals in back-to-back matches of the English Premier League, as he got one in his team’s 3-0 spanking of Crystal Palace, while Bukayo Saka made the best of playing upfront for Arsenal to net one in their shock 2-0 victory away to Wolverhampton Wanderers.
While Iheanacho and Saka got lofty comments from analysts and fans on the evening across England, Adam Idah failed to lift Norwich City at home in the early the early kickoff at Carrow Road, as The Canaries fell deep into relegation waters with a 1-0 loss against visiting Brighton & Hove Albion.
Megasportsarena.com gathered that the Republic of Ireland under-21 international played as a 67th minute substitute, but he still got pretty close to bagging his first goal in the English top-flight when his header hit the post in the fourth minute of stoppage time.
Odion Ighalo also came close to scoring after getting off Manchester United’s bench in the 80th minute, as his side beat Bournemouth 5-2 at Old Trafford, with Mason Greenwood hitting bull’s eye twice and Marcus Rashford also on target.
The other goals were scored by Anthony Martial and Bruno Fernandes, with an exquisite free-kick wrapped up the scoring, but Ighalo only came close to scoring twice; while Bournemouth’s former Denmark under-21 international, Philip Chinedu Billing replaced England ex-youth team striker, Dominic Solanke in the 66th minute.
In the late kick-off on Saturday, Saka, fresh from signing a new deal with Arsenal, started for The Gunners against Wolves at Molineux Stadium and struck a sublime opening goal that left several pundits gaping mouth wide-open.
It came just two minutes before half-time, as Saka netted his first goal in the EPL, after firing the ball past Rui Patricio, following a cross by Kieran Tierney, with a volley that saw ex-Manchester United defender, Phil Neville admitting how astonished he was with the lad’s brilliant strike.
Neville stated: “That was a brilliant finish; we said he wasn’t having the best of games five minutes ago. Switch of play from Cedric Soares into Aubameyang, he knew that Tierney was outside him, didn’t even need to look.
“The ball came into the box early, slight deflection, that’s a brilliant finish from the young boy. Deflection on the cross just set up really nicely for him, that’s the benefit of playing on this right-hand side when you are left-footed. The technique was brilliant, watched it, Patricio no chance.”
Saka also expressed delight with his feat, as he told BBC Sport. “And it wasn’t a bad goal either so I’m very happy. I have to stay humble and keep my feet on the ground to keep learning. It’s important for us to have experience and world-class players around to advise us. It was tough for us today but we gave our all and that is what got us over the line.”
Similar plaudits went out for Iheanacho, as the former Manchester City attacker made hay at King Power Stadium, where the took his total goals haul for the season into double figures for the first time since his breakout season in England with The Citizens.
This he did on Saturday by opening scoring for Leicester in a 3-0 rout of visiting Crystal Palace, as he tapped home on 49 minutes, to put The Foxes ahead, before Jamie Vardy netted his 100th and 101st all-time goals in the EPL that secured a comfortable win for Brendan Rodgers’ side.
While Leicester’s other Nigerian player Wilfred Onyinyen Ndidi was on for the entire duration of play, Iheanacho was replaced after 64 minutes, but he had done enough to get accolades from England ex-international striker, Gary Lineker.
The former Tottenham Hotspur of England and Barcelona of Spain star reckoned that Iheanacho scored the most important goal of the season for Leicester in their win over Palace, as the UAE 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup winner and most valuable player hit his 10th goal in all competitions, with half of his tally so far coming in the English top-flight.
Prior to Saturday’s clash, The Foxes were without a win in four consecutive matches since the resumption of the season and anything other than victory would have further dented their UEFA Champions League target, as they have games against Arsenal, Sheffield United, Tottenham and Man United still to come.
Iheanacho, though, gave them the best push to claim all three points and keep alive their hopes of a UCL target, as he tapped in to open the scoring three minutes after the restart, much to the awe of Lineker, who took to social media to reveal his thoughts.
Lineker Tweeted: “That could be the most important goal of @LCFC’s season from @67Kelechi. Get in!;” and the lad of the moment added: “Back to winning ways. Congrats to @vardy7 on reaching the 100 club.”
