Ighalo Receives Glowing Praise From Man Utd Legends Scholes, Hargreaves After Maiden Goal; Ferdinand Congratulates Striker

One of the nice moments of Manchester United's 5-0 hammering of Club Brugge was Odion Ighalo netting his first goal for the club he has supported since he was a young boy.

On his first start, Ighalo showed his predatory instincts, spinning quickly then got in front of his marker and tapped the ball in after receiving a pass from Juan Mata eleven minutes before halftime.

United legend Paul Scholes, who was on punditry duties at BT Sport, has predicted that Ighalo will continue to score goals so long as the creative player Bruno Fernandes is in the team.

"He did well tonight, he looked sharp. We said before the game he has not played since December the first. He looked sharp, he was good," said Scholes.

"He's come to this team probably at the right time just as a really creative player is coming to the team in Fernandes, and if United need to rely on him for the rest of the season I think he'll do a good job.

"He'll only get stronger and he'll get chances created for him as long as Fernandes is in the team". 

Another former Manchester United midfielder and fellow BT Sport pundit, Owen Hargreaves also praised the former Nigeria international, saying he offers something different than Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford.

Hargreaves added : "I like the fact that he gives them a reference point. I think Martial and Rashford, they're players that want to run at defenders.

"Ighalo is really comfortable with his back to the defender which is a different skill and I think at times he did that really well today and they had so many bodies around him and Mata was in there, Bruno Fernandes was there, McTominay and Fred were there, and I think we'll see more goals from Manchester United to finish the season".

Ex-Manchester United central defender Rio Ferdinand took to Twitter to congratulate the first Nigerian-born player to score a competitive goal for the Old Trafford outfit.

Ferdinand retweeted a post from Football on BT Sport and commented : "Congrats @ighalojude. Special moment for you & your family!"

Ighalo's maiden strike for Manchester United was his first on English soil since he found the net for Watford in a Premier League game vs West Ham on September 10, 2016.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

Photo Credit : manutd.com