Odion Ighalo bagged the winning goal as Al Shabab beat Al Ahli 4-3 in a thrilling Saudi Arabia Professional League encounter on Saturday night.
Ighalo scored the winning goal for the visitors in the 73rd minute.
The Nigeria international was in action for the entire duration of the encounter played at the Prince Abdullah al-Faisal Stadium , (Jeddah).
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The 32-year-old has scored 11 goals in 15 league appearances for Al Shabab this season.
The forward is also now the top scorer in the league ahead of Al Nassr’s striker Talisca, who has 10 goals to his name.
Al Shabab are second on the table with 31 points from 15 games.
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Pre-AFCON marketing……all join. Lolz
No doubt he has the jersey. There you have him, SE Afcon no8. Odion on fire!!!
John, I think he will be paired with Peter Olayinka. I would prefer he plays top9.
I saw the game and it was really a thriller. Odion had a great game so much so that I was thinking why can’t he play the 9 when we prosecute Afcon. I mean we can’t gamble with players who can barely score on home soil. Awoniyi could play the supporting role.
Nice one @Greenturf we need all the experience legs against experience side like Egypt
Let’s leave selection for the coach. With Ighalo, it is obvious Egypt is pissing by now.
Smile
Well done Igahalo; it is better to be the head of dog than to be the tail of a tiger
It is good to be goal king in the Sunday Sunday football league Saudi Arabia than been a bench warmer in premiership
Good one champ! @Odion Ighalo Always giving his whether home or abroad
*his best*
Ighalo Ighalo.. Well I believe the coach should know who will fit in well for the top 9 spot since there’s no osihmen which made it unpredictable on who will slot in there I would have preferred Sadiq or awoniyi to play that role but let’s see how it finally plays out.
Whether in a so called hard league or soft league as they claim. Odion doesn’t care. He stay focus and does his thing mehn…
If Ighalo can put up his goalscoring form of Manchester United for Nigeria, no one would complain. That version of him at Manchester United was so different, no one would complain about his inclusion. I’m not pleased with your inclusion Odion but prove me wrong. Wishing you all the best brother
Which scoring form @ Manchester? Player that Ole never use?
He was really superb for a short time though, man was motivated by people who thought his quality was too low for Man United, though he later faded out las las
The same scoring form that saw him score 5 goals in the 7 matches he started while at Man Utd.
Story ,it will be nice to see him score at Afcon but that man I saw against cape verde that couldn’t run,I will need to be convinced.eguavon should start awonyi or Sadiq plz,
Awoniyi or Sadiq ko, Awolowo or Cdq ni…
Anyway is up to your own(Coach)sha…But uncle Ighalo is starting especially with that game against Egypt alongside maybe one of those rookies
All of you chanting Ighalo today I save your comments as we enter the main show of Afcon.
Ighalo in the absence of Osimhen should lead the line.
A combo of Ighalo/Iheanacho then Simon/Iwobi on the left and right wings respectively should form a dreaded attack in Cameroon.
My line up against Egypt.
Okoye- Aina,Awaziem,Ekong,Sanusi
Ndidi,Aribo.
Iwobi,Iheanacho,Ighalo,Simon.
I smell the Spirit of Rohr I can’t stop laughing. Isn’t that Rohr’s approach… What this tells is that there’s someone in this team that actually plays the tune and not Rohr…. I will see the real formation of Coach Eguavoen before coming into conclusion but in my team of choice I don’t need Ighalo I will rather let him enjoy retirement scoring goals in Saudi retirement league.
Just breaking , Ighalo to miss Afcon?
Incompetent NFF at it again ,they should just call up amoo or dessers but knowing the corrupt & incompetent lot at the NFF they might just invite Moffi. That is how they roll over there.
some comments on this forum just leaves you bewildered. People are praising Ighalo for scoring in the Saudi league, just wow! Shows the depth of knowledge of some fan base.fun fact : Ighalo did not record a single premiership goal for Manchester United during his stint with them and some people here are insisting on him starting ahead of players who have scored 8-9 goals in the German and Spanish div 2 leagues.Have we taken into consideration the quality of opposition he plays with , week in week out.why are we like this? We all saw Ighalo at the wc qualifiers against cape Verde and he was a shadow of himself. He should start Abi? because he was the highest goal scorer at the last afcon,this is not right because the law of diminishing returns with respect to athletes will set in.why is this so difficult to grasp. A lot of Nigerians are just sentimental in every thing they do and that is why thy contine to make poor decisions with reepect to who governs them and who represents them.sadly the bulk of the people at NFF too think like this. At the last Afcon, a lot of people were crying for Mikel Obi but he was eventually benched for iwobi because age had caught up. This is why I respect Mikel because the minute he realized he could not hold a starting place, he resigned honourably. We have people who should have stepped aside for the next generation but stubbornly holding on as if it were a birth right. Perhaps, maybe cruel fate has retired Ighalo now so that the new generation of talents can arise.
It’s a good news
“….Ighalo did not record a single premiership goal for Manchester United during his stint with them …”
Gametime vs
Chelsea – 1 minute
Man city – 2 minutes
West Ham – 5 minutes
Leicester city – 1 minute
on an on like that.
Total of 90 mins in all 11 EPL appearances combined. Average of 8 minutes per match.
And you are berating him for not scoring a “single goal”….??? Is it in the last 8 minutes of matches all your other EPL strikers are getting game time or scoring their goals…?
What about his hold-up plays in build-ups that resulted into goals vs Man city and Leicester despite few minutes of coming on…?
What about the 5 goals in the 7 matches he started in the cups that propelled Man U to the semifinals of the FA, Europa cups and Qfinals of the EFL cup….? Is it just mere coincidence that Man U started crashing out of these cups one after the other immediately Ole stopped featuring him in them…?
11 goals, 1 assist in 15 games even in Saudi league for a 32 year old is worth every ounce of commendation. At least he is showing his level is way higher than Saudi league level. If he continues like that he could hit 25 goals by the end of the season. Some people played in Egyptian league but never hit 11 goals in 15 games all through their stay.
Ighalo is a proven goal scorer everywhere he has played including the EPL. I’m still struggling to remember any Nigerian who had 21 goal contributions in a single season in the PL. You can remind us of any if you recall.
The man has a career high 206 goal contributions in 402 appearances for clubs and 19 goal contributions in 36 appearances for country…..show some respect..!!!
See stats for the life of me?? I talk am several times say na so so sense full your plate. May you walk and never tumble Dr Drey. Ighalo na baller, no be today. Dr Sense Full Plate (OgbonKun Abo),you be d man joor
@Dr Drey, my comments are not for a lack of respect for what Ighalo has achieved in his career. In some of my previous posts on this platform,I referred to him as a legend. My issue is at his age and the quality of the league he plays in, he should not lead the attack ahead of a younger awoniyi and dessers who play in stronger leagues. Age catches up with us all, what you could do 10 years back, you no longer can. We saw Mikel at the last afcon, he was a shadow of himself and rightfully stepped aside. If we had a dearth of strikers who are struggling in their club sides, I would understand ighalo starting ahead of these players but that is not the case. AFCON will start soon enough, we would see if my assessment is right but as any fan , if he goes on and scores against Egypt and the SE win then I am ready to eat the humble pie and concede that I was wrong.
Please I meant to say Sadiq Umar and not dessers.
Ighalo’s club now want to roll with the big boys…lol. There’re refusing to let him leave
_ Ighalo: the goals bandit _
Owing to how they showed burgeoning communication and a potential flourishing partnership in our last match against an obdurate Cape Verde in Lagos, I was already wetting my lips to taste what the delicious and deadly duo that Osimhen and Ighalo will grow to become in Cameroon.
The combination of Ighalo’s pristine positioning and killer instinct inside the 18 yard box combined with Osimhen’s marauding and lung bursting forays into dangerous areas was going to give many defences sleepless nights at the afcon.
It is sadly not to be due to Osimhen’s withdrawal.
Moving forward, whomever is paired with Ighalo – if Eguavoen elects to go with 2 in front – has to be ready to do the donkey work and cover more blades of grass. Someone like Olayinka or maybe Sadiq Umar will fit the bill.
If either Awoniyi or Iheanacho is chosen, I fear there may be limited mobility in front because Ighalo rarely moves too far away from the 18 yard box. He is a poacher.
With 10 goals in 14 games this season in Saudi Arabia, the former Watford man is high in confidence going into Nigeria’s blockbuster opening game against Egypt.
Some have pilloried the league Ighalo plays in to diminish the value of his goals-to-games ratio.
However, if truth be told, be it England, Spain, China or Saudi Arabia, Ighalo doesn’t discriminate. He ploughs into defences to plunder and pillage as many goals for himself as possible.
Such banditry served Nigeria well at the last Afcon where Ighalo stole the show to cart away the Highest Goals Scorer award.
Is he going to do the same thing again in Cameroon? You betcha!
God bless you CSN for eliminating that mathematics stuff on this platform and I hope the edit button is working now.
I hope our government and NFF can learn from you CSN. Good job CSN.
However, am so happy for you Ighalo. Keep the spirit up.
Just like Dennis, Ighalo may likely unavailable for Afcon due to club assignments.
This current NFF are not competent at all and clubsides are talking the advantage of that.
However, if Ighalo can’t make it to Cameroon, that is another opportunity for Dessers. Human beings says opportunity comes twice but in Dessers’s case, this is the third one for him and I hope NFF and Mr. No nonsense won’t manipulate this opportunity for Dessers once again.
I have said it here and I am going to repeat myself here again, if God says Dessers will be in Cameroon to represent Nigeria, nobody can stop the will of God. Ire o. God bless Nigeria!!!
You’ve spoken well brother
Odion who was in action for the entire duration of his club encounter against Al Ahli has now scored 11 goals in 15 league appearances for Al Shabab this season. An Afcon warning.
Bring a Sharp shooter, he’s needed in Cameroon and expected to lead the attack for the Super Eagles at the 2021 African Cup of Nations in Cameroon.
The Saudi club has just decide to prevent ighalo from coming… Nigeria will be without Ighalo…
This is because they claimed the invitation did not follow FIFA protocol on invitation just like the case of Denis.
Breaking News – Al Shabab – Odion Ighalo’s club in Saudi Arabia are said to have refused to release him for the AFCON, saying the corrupt & incompetent NFF did not send his invitation letter on time, similar excuse Watford gave for Emmanuel Dennis, as per news from Owngoal Nigeria!
At this rate, if the NFF is wise, they should quickly dispatch an invitation letter to Cyriel Dessers, as I believe he deserves an invite to the Nigerian Super Eagles.
Please invite Cyriel Dessers NFF and not Terem Moffi, based on current form. Thanks
How come? this one isn’t adding up o
The team prayer part of the video clip in that report is misleading.
That was in Tangier in Morocco pre-Liberia qualifier. The SE are said to be currently camped in Abuja in Nigeria and there is no stadium like the one in that video in or around Abuja currently. The players in camp as at evening of 2nd Jan 2022 are Moses Simon, Sadiq Umar, Chidozie Awaziem, Zaidu Sanusi, Peter Olayinka, Olisa Ndah, Taiwo Awoniyi, Chidera Ejuke, Maduka Okoye and Henry Onyekuru
Misleading report there. I don’t think that clip where Odion Ighalo was seen leading prayers is recent (as in training at Abuja), there is Chukwueze and Collins in that vid and if you look closely, it looks like it was the away match to Liberia played in Morocco. I may be wrong though
Ngwa, Chima E Samuels, cheap liar and desperate blackmailer, come and explain to us with more lies about how Rohr did not include Ighalo in his initial 40 man list submitted to the NFF and how it was Eguavoen that later came and smuggled his name into the list as the 55th name on the list…..LMAOooo…… eventually causing his invitation letter to also be send late to his club (just as in the case of Dennis, according to your false accounts)…..LMAOoooo.
See as devil just they expose them, their brown envelop propaganda journalists and their incompetent FA one by one…..LMAOOooo.
Who else’s letter was sent late o, make we know how many candles we go light for intercessory prayers the next 3 days. I just hope this wave of “late receipt of invitation letters from the NFF” would not blow towards other clubs……LMAOoooooo
When they were supposed to release 40 man provisional list and send letters to clubs, they were busy playing kalo kalo and exchanging envelopes with the list and jostling amongst themselves on the number of slots to share in other to smuggle their “phone callers” and “wild card” candidates into the final sqaud to the tournament.
Na sidon look we go still dey.
@Golden Child ; Please count me out from those you looped together as praise singers of Igahalo.
Go and read my comments again and read between lines ( the fact that I praised Igahalo for being a goal king in Sunday-Sunday football Saudi rather than been benched warmer in premiership, does not mean I approve him to lead SE in Afcon ; (that would be tantamount to disastrous, going by his disastrous outing in his last game with Zero goal , zero assist , missing all 2 or 3 goals opportunities that came his way , to the embarrassment of his clueless Rohr, who himself was so embarrassed to such extent begging Nigerians to give Igahalo time in the team , with equal shameful excuse that his poor performance was because he was absent for 2 years )
To worsen Igahalo matter , Osimeh that overworked himself in that game , playing Igahalo roles along with his own role will not be there .
If Igahalo like himself, he should arrange an excuse not to play , rather than coming to embarrass himself; he should continue to enjoy his retirement sunday sunday football in the holy land , and leave SE to young in-forms players that are playing in serious competitive leagues.
If we have sane people running our NFF or Coach that knows his onions ; a retired flopped Igahalo call up shouldn’t have required debate at all , where we have a wonderful young great player like Akin Amooo available to play for Nigeria….. what a country!