Leicester City of England attacker, Kelechi ‘Kelz’ Iheanacho slotted home a well-taken penalty kick to give his side victory over his former club, Manchester City and give The Foxes a historic 1-0 victory in the Community Shield.
Megasportsarena.com reports that, not only did Iheanacho enact another milestone in his chequered career, which received a revival last season, his goal also ensured that Man City’s Nigerian-born lad, Sam Edozie ended on the losing side.
Iheanacho’s effort also spoiled the debut for Jack Grealish, who got off The Citizens’ bench midway through the second half, bench but it was the opposing substitute that won the Shield for Leicester.
Just two days after becoming the most expensive British player following his move from Aston Villa for £100million, Grealish was named among the City substitutes at Wembley, as the deft winger entered the fray with 65 minutes gone but was unable to help City break the deadlock.
Instead it was Iheanacho that won a second ever Community Shield for Leicester, 50 years to the day since they claimed in for the first time, as the Super Eagles’ star slotted home a penalty two minutes from the final whistle.
This was supposed to be the first club match played in front of a full house since the pandemic began, but Wembley was only about two thirds full with many fans, especially from Manchester, opting to stay away.
With many established stars also missing through injury or late returns from their summer exertions, and Grealish waiting in the wings, City boss Guardiola named an unfamiliar side, while also giving teenagers Edozie and Cole Palmer their chances to impress.
Leicester welcomed back Harvey Barnes from the knee injury which ended his season in February, and he quickly went about unsettling the City defence with his fast, direct running.
City created the first chance when their captain, Ilkay Gundogan forced Kasper Schmeichel into a finger-tip save with a curling, dipping free-kick, while Barnes had a low shot tipped wide by stand-in City keeper Zack Steffen before Leicester came even closer to opening the scoring in the 24th minute.
Barnes saw his shot deflect into the path of Jamie Vardy, whose first-time effort hit Steffen at point-blank range and bounced clear and Edozie, an 18-year-old winger who scored three times during pre-season, wasted his big opportunity when he was played in by Gundogan only to shank his shot wide.
However, Leicester would not be denied and their winner arrived after Nathan Ake clumsily brought down Iheanacho in the area, and his winning goal made him the first player to score a penalty in a Community Shield final (excluding shoot-outs) since 2001.
Before the 24-year-old Iheanacho’s well-taken penalty, no player has scored a spot-kick (in regulation time) in the Community Shield since Gary McAllister converted for Liverpool against Manchester United 20 years ago.
In addition, the 89th-minute strike ended Iheanacho’s goal drought against his former club, as he got his first in nine appearances against The Citizens and his sixth attempt against them in all competitions, after leaving Etihad Stadium to King Power Stadium in 2017.
‘Kelz,’ who was a runner-up with City in the 2014/15 season, was in action alongside his compatriot, Wilfred Ndidi and Ghana’s Dan Amartey, who played the duration for Brendan Rodgers’ side, while Zambia’s Patson Daka replaced Jamie Vardy in the 71st minute for his competitive debut for Leicester.
