Battle of former Golden Eaglets stars: Celtic's Iheanacho on target against Said's Motherwell

In a Scottish Premiership encounter featuring two former Golden Eaglets stars, reigning champions Celtic secured a 3-2 victory over Motherwell at Celtic Park on Sunday.

Kelechi Iheanacho was named in the starting lineup and featured for 78 minutes, while Ibrahim Said, a member of Nigeria's squad at the 2019 FIFA U17 World Cup, was forced off two minutes later after picking up an injury.

The Nigerian international opened the scoring for Celtic in the 28th minute from the penalty spot, calmly sending goalkeeper Calum Ward the wrong way to the delight of the home fans.

The visitors turned the game around with brace from Apostolos Stamatelopoulos, before Swedish forward Benjamin Nygren restored parity for Celtic in the 69th minute.

Meanwhile, Japanese forward Daizen Maeda scored in stoppage time to secure victory for Celtic. 

Iheanacho will be delighted to return  to the scoresheet after failing to score in his last two outings against Hibernian and Braga.

The 29-year-old was unfortunate in both matches, seeing his efforts ruled out for infractions including handball and offside.

The former Manchester City attacker has been in impressive form since joining Celtic on a free transfer in the summer.

Iheanacho has now registered three goals and one assist in six appearances across all competitions for Celtic.

His fine form comes as a huge relief for former Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers, whose side has struggled to score goals since the start of the season.

Adeyemi Adewale

Copyright ANS
All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from allnigeriasoccer.com