BEVERLY HILLS, April 28, (THEWILL) – Another day, another impressive showing as Nigerian forward, Kelechi Iheanacho, executed accurate marksmanship for English Premier League side, Leicester City. The striker, nicknamed “Seniorman Kelz,” was once again on Monday the man producing the goods for the Foxes at the King Power Stadium. Leicester needed to dig deep for the result that gave the team a huge leap towards Champions League qualification after beating Crystal Palace 2-1.
Iheanacho’s side went in knowing that getting the three points was not going to be a walk in the park against Roy Hodgson’s 13th-placed Palace side, who had a reputation for taking points off teams on top in the standings. They had done that again this season and, when they hosted Leicester earlier in the season in December last year, both sides took home a point apiece.
Brendan Rodgers’ charges were charged to get victory for the sake of their desire to keep their place in third. They were to ensure this by keeping the frontline of the Palace side at bay for the 90-minute duration of the fixture. But, as it played out, that was easier said than done because the hosts were already trailing with only 12 minutes on the clock through the concerted combination of Eberechi Eze and Wilfried Zaha.
There were no goals until Rodgers had had time to drill the importance of taking every point available in the match to his charges during the interval. The Manager knew his was a better Leicester team than a year ago and that they had the resolve to dig deep and grind out wins. But, more importantly, they had depth that meant they were no longer reliant only on Jamie Vardy for salvation.
Because of these, Rodgers’ side returned from the break inflamed with the burn to get a result and it was just 5 minutes into the resumption of hostilities and the Iheanacho Show had begun as he single-handedly dug his team out of the hole that was trying to threaten their UEFA Champions League pursuit for next season.
It was Iheanacho’s great work that set up Timothy Castagne to level the scoring. Seniorman Kelz charged onto Youri Tielemans’ hopeful long ball and pulled it back to Timothy Castagne to get an all-important goal that boosted the morale of the Leicester side.
An assist to his name, Iheanacho put the icing on the cake of the certainty of a Leicester victory when the re-emerging striker fired in a stunner to put his side within touching distance of elite European football.
The performance of the 24-year-old forward has recently highlighted his growing importance to the Leicester side. On Monday, he used his bustling assist for the equaliser and a glorious finish of his own to make that statement again.
Before Monday night, Iheanacho was on an impressive run of matches and goals with eight in his last six league games. He had also provided crucial goals at moments when the team needed nothing less than crucial goals. However, none of his goals came close to the match-winning moment on Monday.
Iheanacho controlled the ball deftly, even with his weaker left foot and shifting the ball across centre back, Scott Dann. He made a manoeuvre into half a yard of space, and arrowed his strike high past a rooted Vicente Guaita in the 80th minute.
The victory, owing to the inspirational output of Iheanacho, may just be what wins Brendan Rodgers’ side Champions League football next season because with only 15 points left to play for, they are right on the brink of securing a Europe qualification. Realistically, they could qualify if they win two of the last five matches. With Southampton and Newcastle ahead, the Foxes have it in their palms to qualify.
And, having Iheanacho, who has now scored 14 goals in his last 14 outings for Leicester this season, which he has capped with his best EPL scoring season on 10 goals, it is clear to see why Leicester will be preparing the grounds to celebrate their return to contention in Europe’s biggest football stage.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
