Nephew of former Super Eagles defender subbed in as Chelsea, Man City play out 8-goal thriller

Lesley Ugochukwu - nephew of retired Nigeria international defender Onyekachi Apam - came off the bench in second half stoppage time as Chelsea and Manchester City played out an eight-goal thriller in a crazy Premier League game at Stamford Bridge on Sunday evening.

The France U21 international of Nigerian descent has been named in every single matchday squad announced by manager 
Mauricio Pochettino since the start of the season - fifteen in total across all competitions.

Erling Haaland converted a penalty to open the scoring in the 25th minute but Thiago Silva with a header got Chelsea back on level terms just before the half-hour mark and Raheem Sterling tapped home to give the home team a 2-1 lead in the 37th minute.

But it was all square at the break as cap-tied Switzerland international of Nigerian descent Manuel Akanji found himself free in the box and directed a header past goalkeeper Robert Sánchez right on the stroke of halftime.

Manchester City were in front again two minutes into the second half when Haaland converted a cross from Julian Alvarez but honours were even again as Nicolas Jackson pounced on the rebound after Ederson spilled a shot by Conor Gallagher in the 67th minute.

Rodri thought he had won it for the Citizens four minutes before the end of the contest  with a deflected effort, only for Manchester City old boy Cole Palmer to equalize from the spot in the fifth minute of stoppage time. 

After Chelsea's equalizer, Pochettino made a tactical substitution by introducing defensive midfielder Ugochukwu as a replacement for striker Jackson. 

Heading into the international break, Manchester City are topping the table with 28 points garnered while Chelsea are tenth with 16 points from 12 matches.

Igho Kingsley 

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