In recent weeks, Kelechi Iheanacho has been in the news for the right reasons in his last two Premier League appearances.
He was the hero after coming on as a second-half substitute for Leicester City to assist and then score the winner in their 2-1 home win over Everton on Sunday, December 1, 2019.
The Nigerian had another goal and assist in the 4-1 thrashing of Aston Villa on Sunday, December 8 as Leicester City got an eighth-straight win.
He deservedly got another start as Leicester City hosted Norwich but his 100th league appearance ended in controversy.
Iheanacho wasn’t the number one trend on Twitter Nigeria for scoring, rather he was the topic of conversation after he tried to score while he was supposed to give away the ball for fair play.
With Leicester trailing 1-0 after half-an-hour, Iheanacho failed to return a throw back to Norwich who had put the ball out of play so Emiliano Buendia could receive treatment.
Instead of playing the ball back to the opposition for fair play, the Nigerian headed towards the Norwich penalty box before he was brought down.
Norwich players were incensed and hounded Iheanacho who needed the protection of his compatriot and teammate Wilfred Ndidi.
On Twitter, he was being called out for this lack of sportsmanship and it seems like his manager Brendan Rodgers agreed as he took him off seven minutes after the incident.
Although Rodgers insisted that the change was a tactical one, he was he didn’t know what Iheanacho was thinking in the situation.
“Young Kelechi misread the situation. I don’t know what he was thinking,” the Foxes manager is quoted to say by the Daily Mail.
“Most times the ball would be given back. Then it led to a situation that could have led to a red card which would have been unfortunate.
“The substitution was to change our shape. He was obviously disappointed but it was nothing personal.”
Norwich manager Daniel Farke said he was furious just as his players with Iheanacho.
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“I was furious too. First Buendia was caught with a straight leg tackle. The referee was there so I don’t know why he didn’t stop play,” Farke said.
“I think Fairplay is known everywhere. We were expecting the ball back from the throw but Leicester used the situation to try score a goal.
It ended 1-1 at the King Power Stadium as Leicester City saw their run of eight consecutive league victories come to an end.
Source – https://www.pulse.ng/sports/
