Nigerian international Odion Ighalo on Monday night made a winning start at his new club, Manchester United, as the Red Devils beat home side Chelsea two goals to nothing.
Ighalo, the first Nigerian to play for United, sow flashes of brilliance during the five minutes he featured and came close to scoring shortly after coming in for strike Anthony Martial on the dot of 90 minutes.
Three minutes after being thrown into the action, Ighalo was located by Fred inside the Chelsea vital area and he toe-poked one straight at goalkeeper Willy Caballero, who saved with his knees.
The visitors had earlier taken an unassailable lead via killer headers by Martial in the 45th minute and Maguire in 66 minutes.
It was a sad night for Chelsea as their two goals were cancelled by VAR.
For the visitors, the victory takes their point haul to 38 and sees them on the seventh position on the log and closing in on top four finishing to guarantee Champions League qualification.
Ighalo, who joined United from Shanghai Shenhua, was quarantined before he was allowed to train with his new teammates but the coach believes he deserves a chance in the Monday night’s game, saying, “He (Ighalo) is desperate to play for Manchester United.”
Ighalo has been training with Manchester-based performance coach Wayne Richardson at the GB Taekwondo Centre in Manchester to keep fit despite featuring in his last competitive match in December 2019.
