Bench-warmers get up for the Cup
The weekend’s FA Cup games were notable for bit-part African strikers who seized rare opportunities to hit the net.
The stand-out performance came from Manchester City’s Kelechi Iheanacho, a perennial substitute who crowned a surprise start against Aston Villa with the first hat-trick of his senior career as Manuel Pellegrini’s side breezed into the fifth round with a 4-0 victory. The 19-year-old Nigerian opened the scoring from close range in the fourth minute, netted an ice-cool penalty 20 minutes later and completed his treble 14 minutes from time by intercepting a sloppy back-pass from Villa’s Senegalese midfielder Idrissa Gueye and running through to calmly slot home. He has now scored eight times this season, more than many regular picks.
On Sunday, beleaguered Chelsea put their Premier League woes behind them to thrash Championship side MK Dons 5–1 away from home. With the match looking to be in the bag, manager Guus Hiddink brought on Bertrand Traore for main striker Diego Costa, and the 20-year-old Burkino Faso front man didn’t wait long to repay his boss’s faith.
Barely five minutes after taking the field in the 57th minute, Traore found himself on the end of a cut-back from the left by Eden Hazard, which he side-footed into the goal first time with the assurance of a player that plays every week.
Everton also had to navigate their way past lower league opposition in League Two side Carlisle United at their tight Brunton Park stadium. And 32-year-old Arouna Kone wasted no time getting onto the scoresheet. In the Merseysiders’ second cup tie of the week – they succumbed narrowly to the multi-millionaires of Manchester City in the second leg of their Capital One Cup semi-final – they nevertheless fielded a fairly strong side, which paid off within two minutes of the start when speedy Aaron Lennon found Ivorian forward Kone arriving in the six yard box for a tap-in.
The goal, Kone’s seventh of the season, set Everton on their way to a 3-0 success. And the efforts of their busy week clearly did not take too much out of them since they managed to defeat Newcastle United by the same 3-0 scoreline three days later in their mid-week Premier League clash.
Watford’s Odion Ighalo has been anything but a bit-part player for the Hornets this season. Watford’s goal-scoring talisman came to their rescue once again with a late goal as Quique Sanchez Flores’s side won 1-0 at Championship club Nottingham Forest. Rested from the starting line-up, the Nigeria international came off the bench in the 72nd minute at the City Ground and struck a minute from time after Forest defender Kelvin Wilson miscued a clearance, slamming home right-footed for his 15th goal of the season, and 10th in 15 games.
Also in the Cup, Senegalese striker Souleymane Doukara broke the deadlock in the eighth minute as Leeds United progressed to the last 16 by winning 2-1 at fellow second-tier representatives Bolton Wanderers. Doukara let fly with his left foot from the edge of the box and although Bolton goalkeeper Ben Amos got his body behind the ball, it squirmed through him and bounced into the net.
