Odion Ighalo was in action for Manchester United who defeated Luton Town 3-0 in the third round of the Carabao Cup on Tuesday, Completesports.com reports.
The former Super Eagles striker made his first start for United in the game before making way for Mason Greenwood on 78 minutes.
The last time Ighalo scored for United was in a 2-1 win at Norwich City in the FA Cup back in June.
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In Tuesday’s game, Juan Mata opened scoring in the 44th minute from the penalty spot before substitute Marcus Rashford made it 2-0 on 88 minutes.
And in the 90th minute Mason Greenwood who also came on in the second half added the third goal.
At the Hawthorns, Semi Ajayi was not listed in West Bromwich Albion squad that got eliminated by Brentford.
The Baggies, who handed former Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanonic is debut, lost 5-4 on penalties after regulation time ended 2-2.
Watford without Isaac Success and Tom Dele-Bashiru lost 3-1 away to Newport County while West Ham United hammered Hull City 5-1.
The game between Leyton Orient and Tottenham Hotspur was postponed after multiple players of Orient tested positive for coronavirus
By James Agberebi
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12 Comments
Odion Jude Ighalo
Fire from all cylinders!!!!
I saw the match and didn’t feel Ighalo’s impact in the game. To be honest . He’s really got to up his efforts
CSN nawa o, the title should’ve read “Ighalo flopped as Man U beats Luton 3:0”.
Anyone who watched the full match will agree with me more. Ighalo has zero impact on this match, more like a minus 1, no meaningful contributions for 78 mins against ordinary Luton and you guys were blaming Ole for only fielding him for 7 mins in Premier league matches. In fact Ole really love him so much to even make matchday squad.
What Ighalo couldn’t do in 78 mins was achieved by Rashford and Greenwood in just 15 mins twice.
So please guys let’s put sentiment apart and appraise our footballers correctly so they can pull up their socks,
Sentimental feedback is what is killing our football. When our player plays badly, we should not shy away from stating it provided that is how we feel. Well said Dr Banks.
… After Ighalo missed those chances especially the last one that lead to a controversial VAR check for penalty against Argentina in 2018 WC, I just told myself he has just been lucky most of his career. Jude Odion Ighalo is just your regular everyday striker. He is got strength and maybe regular skills but nothing really special. I went to re-watch the game against Algeria in the Semi Finals of last Afcon and there was an early ball that all he needed to do was square to Ahmed Musa who was in a clear killer position with the goalkeeper at his mercy and without even thinking if someone was supporting him… he blasted aimlessly wide off target. It was such a begging chance and he later apologized he did not see Musa coming… Ighalo was the kind of striker who was bad in SE for holdup play and normally does not like giving assist if he sees a faint space to shoot… What we have in Victor Osimhen is a guy so good at teamplay such that he sees assist like scoring a goal himself… Victor Osimhen is a Blessing to our forward line!
Absolute truth!
Na God’s blessings just dey follow that guy, nothing else…no be say e sabi reach the kind striker wey Man U united go sign…strikers dey dey sabi pass Ighalo wey dem no get chance play for Man United. May God’s blessings continue to follow him but the truth must be told, ighalo displayed yesterday reminds us of the old Ighalo we know…
Let’s say the truth and analyse correctly, even though every striker has his off days, which includes Ighalo and Rashford. If you watched the match yesterday you will pity him. How can a no.9 score when none his team mates are willing to give him the ball. He keeps pleading for a pass and never gets it. In all 75 mins he played you can count the number of time he kicked the ball. No striker will perform like that. And worse if is a no 9, that usually waits for a good pass. Even if it is Lewandoski, if treated like that, he cannot score. Then everyone will come and judge that he flopped. I know if Fenendes was there with him, it would have been different. Common penalty he cannot be allowed to take.
Odion Ighalo, you have achieved your childhood dream, find a club and coach that believes in you. The attack of Mata, Ighalo and Lingard was really disjointed and everyone trying to impress and not united. Immediately they changed the strikers and got those that could work as a team, the goals started flowing.
Osimhen is performing in Napoli, because the guys there have come to love him and they give him the ball. Same with Lukaku, and Vardy every no.9 needs players to trust them, and feed them with the ball.
@ Ikeben good talk. Sometimes people are so ignorant of the “play him out ” of the game antics of other players in a team. There are always gangs in teams and if you’re not in the good book of these gangs, they can easily make you look like a bad player by systematically playing you out. Not necessarily speaking to defend Ighalo here cos I honestly didn’t watch the match but only encouraging that in making conclusions about players performances, we should be honest enough to have an holistic view.
From the first time I started watching Ighalo for Man U, they have always been trying to play him out of the game. They refuse to pass to him, he has to hustle for his balls most of the time, and still acts like a good teammate to others. Only Mata and Fernandes I have seen play without bias when it comes to him. Plus, OLE doesn’t want to use Ighalo for whatever reason even if it hurts the team. It’s a sad tale for him.
Guys you are perfectly wrong in your assertion on Ighalo, am sure you never watch the match yesterday. A modern striker doesn’t need to wait for a killer pass to score a goal that even a 45 yrs olds striker will have no problem scoring. If you watch the match you will see that Rashford goal came from a half chance which he did well to get past the defender to score while Greenwood goal was all made by himself.
Ighalo laboured relentlessly for 78 mins with no meaningful touches and you said he wasn’t given a pass, how many good passes did he give to others too? Put sentiments aside and say the truth, he was far below par ever since the covid lockdown
When Ighalo was scoring goals for Manchester United the players like him then. Once he starts to flop then the whole world is against him. We are in a habit of making pitiful excuses for our own players even when they are shit. I repeat such blind loyalty will lead us nowhere. I watched the match yesterday and I agree with Dr Banks that Ighalo was pants. That does not mean he will be that poor tomorrow but to make excuses for him is not on.
If Ighalo was the player that was spoiling the game why did the coach not remove only Ighalo and introduce only Rashford to change the tide of the game. If you claim Ighalo was the promblem of Man United, tell me how many clear chances he missed. I repeat the front 3 attackers were not playing together and no good combination play at all. And the solution was simple, the Coach removed the front 3 attackers and the game changed. So singling out Ighalo for criticism is more of witch hunting. And among the attackers he least saw the ball because of his position up front.
And you claimed Rashford goal was half a chance, but was clearly a combination play between Fenandes, Greenwood who held it for Rashford to complete the move. And that was what was lacking with the front 3. If Ighalo as a no. 9 missed up to 2 clear chances, I will not argue. When he initaties a move and expects a return pass and you he dosen’t get it. What is he suppose to do. I can tell you for free that if only Rashford came to replace Ighalo without Greenwood and Fenandes, ManUnited will not score any goal that day.
Well it is not new, Rashford played the first 90mins without scoring no body came here to type anything. But whenever Ighalo plays a game more than 60mins and does not score everbody both his club and Nigeria fans start whipping him. He is already use to it. I maintain my stand for that match you can’t blame him, he was staved of the ball.