The Nigerian international is presently in a rich vein of goalscoring form, and his club manager is pleased with another match-winning display
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Brendan Rodgers has singled out Kelechi Iheanacho for praise after the Super Eagles striker delivered a man-of-the-match performance to inspire Leicester City to a convincing 3-1 victory over Manchester United in the quarterfinals of the FA Cup.
Ole Gunner Solskjaer’s side were the slight favourites at kick-off following a good run of form that helped them overpower AC Milan at the San Siro in a Europa League clash on Thursday.
But the Red Devils had no answers to the questions posed by Iheanacho all night, with the Nigerian forward netting a goal in each half with an assist for a Youri Tielemans strike sandwiched in between.
That brace at the King Power Stadium against United took Iheanacho’s goal tally to seven in his last four matches, including his first-ever Premier League hat-trick against Sheffield United last weekend.
A delighted Rodgers commended his side for matching the visitors with for wit and gut for gut while hailing Iheanacho’s new-found confidence that is fueling his excellent form.
“I’m obviously delighted. It was a great team performance,” Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers told BBC.
“Every aspect of the game was complete.
“We showed courage to play football against one of Europe’s greatest teams. I’m so happy for the players. I thought we thoroughly deserved it.
“Kelechi has always contributed. Maybe his confidence was lower, but he works so hard every day and always comes in and gives his all. You see his confidence now. He’s at the top of his game.”
After a less-than-impressive return last campaign, Iheanacho has sparkled back to life this season, with the 24-year-old smashing in 13 goals in all competitions with about two months left of the campaign left to play.
Iheanacho has scored for the Foxes in the Europa League, Premier League, and the FA Cup, with seven of his goals in the last four matches.
Rodgers revealed that he has been able to get the best out of Iheanacho since he started partnering the striker with Jamie Vardy up front and not alone all by himself.
Rodgers said: “It’s a different structure [up front]. Kelechi is probably best with someone up there with him. Those two are working very well.”
It is one piece of advice Super Eagles head coach Gernot Rohr would be wise to consider as Nigeria head towards two crucial Afcon qualifying games against the Benin Republic and Lesotho.
Any of Napoli’s Victor Osimhen and Genk’s Paul Onuachu could be paired with Iheanacho in the Super Eagles attack as Nigeria target all three points when tackling the Squirrels and Crocodile in the coming days.
