Iheanacho impressive as foxes move into FA Cup 5th round
Super Eagles star and FA Cup specialist Kelechi Iheancho was impressive Tuesday night after his creative move produced an opportunity for teammate Abdul Fatawu to deliver extra-time stunner for a lone goal victory over Bournemouth.
Iheanacho who had a good outing at the recently concluded 34th AFCON Cote d Ivoire despite getting minimal time,
held the ball up in the penalty area and laid it off to Fatawu, who moved the ball out left with one touch and then curled in a shot that couldn’t have been further in the top left-hand corner if he’d tried. From there, there was no way back for Bournemouth.
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It is the fourth time in the last seven seasons the Foxes who lifted the trophy in 2020/21 have progressed to the last eight of the competition.
For long periods, it looked as though Bournemouth would be the team to strike first, but despite mustering a whopping 27 shots, just four of those were on target, with many other seemingly simple opportunities squandered.
The FA Cup quarter-final draw will take place from 7pm on Wednesday (today)where Enzo Maresca’s men will find out their opponents for the next round as they seek to lay hands on the trophy again
From a Cherries perspective, it was a game crying out for top scorer Dominic Solanke, who was left out of the squad altogether, an omission addressed by manager Andoni Iraola in his post-match press conference.
“He wasn’t feeling well and he has some issues in the knee. He wasn’t ready to be involved today,” said the Spaniard.
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“He has had an MRI today [Tuesday], so we have to see what he has, assess him, see how he wakes up tomorrow and then we will see. I hope it’s not something big and he can help us in the next games.”
He confirmed on-loan forward Enes Unal has been taken to hospital with “something in the clavicle”. The Turkey international only managed to play the first half of his full debut since a loan move from Getafe in January.
“To lose two No 9s in one day is always a bad thing,” Iraola added.
For the most part, the first half of the teams’ first-ever FA Cup meeting was entertaining perhaps if only for the neutral.
Bournemouth generated 1.51 xG by the break, yet could not find a way through. Most notably, Luis Sinisterra picked out Alex Scott after an enterprising run on the right-hand side, but the former England U20 international nonchalantly lifted the ball over the bar with his first touch.