Leicester City of England attacker, Kelechi Iheanacho has gained words of praise from The Foxes’ coach, Brendan Rodgers, following his match-saving equalizer on Wednesday night against Aston Villa in the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg at King Power Stadium, megasportsarena.com reports.
Iheanacho’s second-half goal cancelled out Frederic Guilbert’s 28th-minute opener and left the second leg at Villa Park on January 28 delicately poised, ahead of which Rodgers pointed out that the back-to-form star played well and hit a great equalizer, then went on to take credit for the turnaround, which he says was inspired by some new tips he is giving the Super Eagles lad.
Rodgers stated further that he believes Iheanacho is finally proving his worth, as the UAE 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup gold medalist and most valuable player has failed to justify his price-tag and status since arriving from Manchester City in the summer of 2017 in a £25m transfer deal.
Iheanacho, though, has finally woken up from slumber and already has six goals in eight games, the latest of which came on Wednesday night after he stepped off the bench to earn Leicester a 1-1 draw in their Carabao Cup semi-final first leg at home.
It was the 23-year-old Iheanacho’s third goal in the competition and Rodgers is pleased to see the lad reaping the reward for hard work, which the gaffer says he has been very instrumental in bringing about since his arrival at King Power Stadium.
Rodgers said: “He’s a big talent. He didn’t play a lot of football at Manchester City and it takes a bit of time to adapt. But, since I’ve come in, his confidence has grown and grown and we believe in him and believe in his talent and this season he has really come to the fore.
“It was a great finish. He’s been so important for us. You see his confidence all the time whether he starts or comes into the game, and that’s the beauty of him now – he is making an impact in games He works so hard every day.
“He’s either making a goal or scoring a goal now and he works so hard in his pressing game. He was a threat when he came on and I’m delighted for him. Their goalkeeper made some great saves, but we eventually got the goal – which is what we deserved. It is perfectly set up for the second leg and we have the confidence of going there and playing well. We look forward to it.”
