The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Iheanacho

  • Villa 0-4 Man City Iheanacho scores hat-trick

    Villa 0-4 Man City Iheanacho scores hat-trick

    Nigerian international, Kelechi Iheanacho gave Manchester City fans an exciting glimpse into the future by scoring his first hat-trick as Manuel Pellegrini’s men cruised into the FA Cup fifth round and kept their hopes alive of an unprecedented Quadruple.

    With Sergio Aguero given a rest, Iheanacho took centre-stage with his sixth, seventh and eighth goals of the campaign, against the Premier League’s bottom team.

    He followed up a poacher’s finish after four minutes with a coolly-taken penalty midway through the first half and completed his treble following a howler by ex-Manchester City defender Micah Richards. Raheem Sterling then added a late fourth.

    City are still in the hunt for the Premier League, Champions League, Capital One Cup and the FA Cup. If Pep Guardiola does succeed Manuel Pellegrini, he will find him a hard act to follow, even if the kids are coming through led by Iheanacho.

  • YAYA BOASTS: Iheanacho will be great

    •‘It’s a proud day for Iwobi’s family’

    Former African Footballer of the Year and Manchester City of England’s midfield star, Yaya Toure has tipped teammate and Super Eagles striker, Kelechi Iheanacho to be a top star on the field in no distance future.

    The Ivorian star disclosed this to Sporting Life in Abuja shortly after he was dethroned by Gabonese and Borussia Dortmund striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as the new 2015 African Footballer of the Year at the International Conference Centre Abuja last Thursday.

    He praised the quality of the Nigerian as a football player and has already tipped him to be a top football star in the world very soon. He also disclosed that he has been a big brother to Iheanacho and has been mentoring him for a while now.

    “Yes I am very close to Kelechi (Iheanacho) and he sees me as his mentor. I see him closely and I trust him and I have been trying to push him up. I know what I have done to encourage him to continue to believe in his talent. I see him as one of my younger brothers coming through one day. I hope that Kelechi can be one of the top players on the field in the future”,  Toure had said during his visit to Nigeria on Thursday.

  • Iheanacho shines as Man City through in FA Cup

    Iheanacho shines as Man City through in FA Cup

    ..Arsenal stop Sunderland

    AARON Ramsey and Olivier Giroud scored as Arsenal started their FA Cup defence by coming from behind to defeat Sunderland 3-1 in the third round yesterday.

    Arsenal were joined in round four by Premier League title rivals Manchester City, who won 3-0 at Norwich City, but Southampton and Newcastle United were both eliminated and West Bromwich Albion survived a huge scare.

    Sunderland took a 17th-minute lead at the Emirates Stadium through Jeremain Lens, but Joel Campbell equalised eight minutes later before second-half goals by Ramsey and Giroud gave Arsene Wenger’s men victory.

    Premier League leaders Arsenal are seeking to become the first team to win three FA Cups in a row since Blackburn Rovers between 1884 and 1886. A side showing five changes fell behind when Lens picked Laurent Koscielny’s pocket and fired home, but minutes later Theo Walcott teed up Campbell to tuck away the equaliser.

    Substitute Ramsey made it 2-1 in the 72nd minute after a one-two with Hector Bellerin and Bellerin then teed up Giroud for Arsenal’s third goal four minutes later.

    Manchester City strolled through at Carrow Road, where Sergio Aguero put the visitors ahead in the 16th minute with a driving run and emphatic shot.

    Aguero set up 19-year-old strike partner Kelechi Iheanacho for City’s second goal on the half-hour and substitute Kevin De Bruyne wrapped up victory 12 minutes from time.

    Southampton and Newcastle both fell at the first hurdle, but could at least console themselves that they were beaten by fellow Premier League teams.

    Wilfried Zaha’s 68th-minute goal gave Crystal Palace a 2-1 win at Southampton, while Troy Deeney punished a loose back-pass from Georginio Wijnaldum to give Watford a 1-0 home victory over Newcastle.

  • GOLDEN BOY AWARD! IHEANACHO, SIMON MISS OUT

    GOLDEN BOY AWARD! IHEANACHO, SIMON MISS OUT

    SUPER EAGLES strikers, Moses Simon (Gent) and Kelechi Iheanacho (Manchester City) have both missed out on the prestigious 2015 Golden Boy award for the best player in Europe under the age of 21 years.
    Manchester United’s France international Anthony Martial was crowned the winner of the award following his blistering start to his career with the Red Devils.
    30 of Europe’s leading newspapers, including Marca, L’équipe and The Times, were told to choose the most outstanding players from the 40 – man shortlist.
    The award has previously been won by Lionel Messi, Cesc Fàbregas, Paul Pogba and Raheem Sterling.
    No Nigerian player has won the award since it was created in 2003 by Italian publication Tuttosport.

  • Iheanacho’s stoppage-time goal sends Man City top

    Iheanacho’s stoppage-time goal sends Man City top

    KELECHI Iheanacho’s fortuitous stoppage-time goal gave Manchester City a 2-1 home win over managerless Swansea City on Saturday that provisionally sent Manuel Pellegrini’s side top in the Premier League.

    Swansea, who sacked Garry Monk on Wednesday, looked to have earned a point when Bafetimbi Gomis scored a 90th-minute equaliser, only for Yaya Toure’s shot to hit team-mate Iheanacho and loop in two minutes later.City move top on goal difference, above previous leaders Leicester City, who host champions Chelsea on Monday.

    With first-team coach Alan Curtis at the helm, Swansea made three changes at a rain-lashed Etihad Stadium, Angel Rangel, Federico Fernandez and Jack Cork replacing Kyle Naughton, Kyle Bartley and Gomis.

    Cork set up an early sight of goal for Wayne Routledge, whose shot was blocked by Joe Hart, and the England goalkeeper also had to push an effort from Gylfi Sigurdsson over the bar.

    But after Swansea captain Ashley Williams had diverted a Jesus Navas shot over the bar, Wilfried Bony put the hosts in front in the 26th minute, meeting Navas’s left-wing corner with an emphatic near-post header.The Ivorian striker, who left Swansea for City in January, did not celebrate.

    Both sides had chances thereafter, with Andre Ayew heading over for Swansea and Sigurdsson twice testing Hart, while Toure, the newly crowned BBC African Footballer of the Year, went close on several occasions.

    Sigurdsson thought he had equalised in the 84th minute, but his driven effort was contentiously ruled out as Gomis, on as a substitute, had collided with Hart in the build-up.

  • No birthday goal for Iheanacho

    No birthday goal for Iheanacho

    Kelechi Iheanacho returned from injury to help Manchester City to a 6-1 demolition of Newcastle United in yesterday’s premier league game but he failed to register a goal to mark his nineteenth birthday.

    The Nigerian had missed last weekend’s 4-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspurs but could not have wished for a better match to return than the game against Magpies. He was introduced for two assist hero David Silva in the 75th minute and nearly scored two minutes later as his left foot shot from inside the box greased the palms of Tim Krul in goal for Newcastle.

    However, the real star of the encounter was Argentine forward Sergio ‘Kun’ Aguero, who notched five brilliant strikes while new record signing Kevin de Bruyne scored the other Citizens goal in the 6-1 rout.

    The win takes Manchester City back to the top of the premier league log with 18 points, two points ahead of neighbours Manchester United who play Arsenal at the Emirates later today.

  • Pardew confesses: I didn’t know Iheanacho

    Pardew confesses: I didn’t know Iheanacho

    Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew has admitted he knew next to nothing about Kelechi Iheanacho before the Manchester City youngster scored a late winner at Selhurst Park.

    Palace looked set to end the Premier League leaders’ 100 per cent record before Iheanacho pounced from close range to secure a 1-0 win for Manuel Pellegrini’s side on his second senior appearance.

    Iheanacho entered the pitch moments earlier as an 89th-minute replacement for Wilfried Bony and Pardew was not immediately concerned about his goalscoring prowess.

    Along with an unfamiliar name, Pardew would have seen No. 72 on the new arrival’s back which, within a minute, became the highest shirt number to score in Premier League history.

    “No, if I’m honest. I don’t know much about him at all. In fact I had to look on his shirt to see who he was,” Pardew said at a post-match media conference when he was asked if he previously knew who Iheanacho was.

    “Man City have so many players and it’s a problem going forward [for other clubs]. Not only are they building a very strong first XI but they’re snapping up a lot of young players from across the globe who are going to be coming through in the next three or four years who are going to make it really difficult for us. He might be one but I don’t really know too much more about him.”

  • Pellegrini Reveals: Iheanacho will play again

    Pellegrini Reveals: Iheanacho will play again

    •Promises to give Nigerian more chances
    •Tips him as good replacement for Dzeko
    •Says injury stopped him last season

     

    Manchester City manager has revealed how he inspired Nigeria international Kelechi Iheanacho in Saturday’s English Premier League 1-0 win over Crystal Palace.

    The 18-year-old striker pounced in stoppage-time to give the Citizens a narrow 1-0 win at Selhurst Park, which maintained their 100 per cent start to the Premier League season.

    Iheanacho had only been brought on for Wilfried Bony moments before bagging the match winner and it was just his second appearance for City. Pellegrini has high hopes for the Nigeria under-20 international and admits the player’s development persuaded him not to bring in a replacement after Edin Dzeko left for Roma.

    Pellegrini, who plucked him from Nigeria last year, said: “I told him to go and score a goal. I was going to make the substitution before, because Bony had only worked the last few days with the team, but he told me he was okay. That’s why I kept him on, but he deserved more minutes. It was important he took that chance.

    “He is a very important player for us. He’s just 18 and started working with our squad last season, but he was unlucky and had a big injury in the last three months of the season.

    “This year he started pre-season with the squad and will be a very important player for the future. He’s one of the reasons I didn’t bring another striker when we sold Edin Dzeko. He deserves that chance,” said Pellegrini.

  • Iheanacho keeps Man City soaring

    Iheanacho keeps Man City soaring

    KELECHI Iheanacho opened his Manchester City account with a last-minute winner as his side maintained their perfect start to the Premier League campaign by winning 1-0 at Crystal Palace on Saturday.
    Palace, who had started the day in second place, looked set to claim a point before Iheanacho finished from close range shortly after appearing as an 89th-minute substitute to secure City’s fifth successive win.
    It was only the 18-year-old Nigerian’s second senior appearance and drew the attention away from an impressive debut for Kevin De Bruyne, who arrived from Wolfsburg in a £54 million move shortly before the end of the transfer window.
    De Bruyne was introduced as a first-half replacement for the injured Sergio Aguero and the loss of the Argentina striker added to City’s mounting injury concerns ahead of next week’s Champions League clash with Juventus.
    A bad-tempered game threatened to flare up when Scott Dann brought down Aguero with a kick to the knee in the 17th minute and the City striker was forced to withdraw seven minutes later. Manuel Pellegrini, the City manager, and his players were incensed Dann escaped with only a yellow card and when Yaya Toure reacted by bringing down Palace’s James McArthur in a similar manner, Pellegrini and Palace manager Alan Pardew clashed physically on the touchline.
    Iheanacho’s late intervention brought relief for Pellegrini, but Aguero’s injury added to the manager’s concerns after David Silva and Raheem Sterling were both forced to miss this game.

  • Iheanacho to wear Man City’s No.72

    Iheanacho to wear Man City’s No.72

    English Premier League vice champions Manchester City have announced their squad number list for the 2015-2016 season.

    Manchester City have re-confirmed that Nigeria U-20 international Kelechi Iheanacho will be involved with the first team, with the teenager allocated a jersey number alongside top stars Aguero, Toure, Silva and Nasri.

    For the new season, Iheanacho, who plays as a striker for The Cityzens, will wear the number 72 shirt.

    He is the only player of Nigerian descent that has been included in the first team, with the likes of Tosin Adarabioyo, Ashinme Kigbu and Nathaniel Oseni all left out by manager Manuel Pellegrini.

    If Iheanacho makes his debut in the Premier League against West Brom on Monday, he will follow in the footsteps of Kevin Etuhu and Nedum Onuoha, who played for Man City in the EPL before quitting the club.