Leicester City striker Kelechi Iheanacho continued his hot streak with a brace as Brendan Rodgers' side beat Manchester United 3-1 to book a place in the semi-finals of the FA Cup.
Iheanacho pounced on a first-half error from Fred to open the scoring and headed home Marc Albrighton's free-kick to complete a deserved triumph at the King Power Stadium and book a Wembley date with Southampton.
In between his goals, he laid on Youri Tielemans for Leicester's second and the Nigeria international now has 15 goal involvements in his past 15 starts across all competitions – 11 goals and four assists.
This month, Iheanacho has been on fire, with seven goals in four outings – a return of one every 48 minutes that places him among Europe's elite.
Only Bayern Munich superstar Robert Lewandowski (eight, 38.75 mins/goal) has outscored the 24-year-old during this period.
Hot on Iheanacho's heels are Erling Haaland, Karim Benzema and his international team-mate, Simy Nwankwo of Crotone, on six.
Paris Saint-Germain favourite Kylian Mbappe has five in five since the calendar turned, one more than Cristiano Ronaldo, Harry Kane, Kevin De Bruyne, Youssef En-Nesyri and Gerrard Moreno.
"I'm enjoying it - I just need to focus and keep going," Iheanacho told BBC Sport.
"It's not easy to get an opportunity but I think I am taking mine - I just need to keep working hard every day and they opportunities will keep coming."
Iheanacho's rich vein of form is timely for Leicester, given Jamie Vardy is enduring an unusually barren spell in front of goal.
The former England striker has not scored for eight matches, although he weighed in with two assists as Iheanacho scored a hat-trick in last weekend's 5-0 demolition of Sheffield United and Rodgers is delighted with how the pair are working in tandem.
"Kelechi has always contributed. Maybe his confidence was lower [before] but he works so hard every day and always comes in and gives his all," the Foxes boss told BBC Sport.
"You see his confidence now. He's at the top of his game.
"It's a different structure [up front]. Kelechi is probably best with someone up there with him. Those two are working very well."
The former Manchester City youngster added: "The partnership is really helping us in the team I am really happy playing alongside Jamie.
"It's helping me a lot [in terms of] creating space and getting the shot in behind, so I hope we can keep working hard together."
By contrast, United's forwards are struggling at present.
Mason Greenwood got their goal, his first in 16 matches. After bursting onto the scene last season, the teenage striker has scored two FA Cup goals to his solitary effort in the Premier League this time around.
Marcus Rashford was an injury absentee at Leicester and has been, by far, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's most impressive attacker this season with 18 goals and 10 assists.
Anthony Martial's brace in the 9-0 shellacking of Southampton remain his only goals since New Year's Day, while Edinson Cavani has not completed 90 minutes since February 14 due to injury.
Real Sociedad 0-1 Real Madrid: Los Blancos edge closer to LaLiga title with win
Arda Guler scored in the first half to earn a second-string Real Madrid side a 1-0 win at Real Sociedad on Friday, moving the LaLiga leaders a step closer to a record-extending 36th Spanish title.
With five games remaining, Madrid climbed to 84 points and extended their lead to 14 points over second-placed Barcelona, who have a game in hand and host Valencia on Monday.
Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti rested several key players ahead of their Champions League semi-final against Bayern Munich, but his side did just enough to secure the three points.
The winner came from 19-year-old Turkish midfielder Guler, making his first start for Madrid after signing from Fenerbahce, when he turned home Dani Carvajal's cross in the 29th minute.
Minnesota United v Sporting Kansas City: ‘It’s what I’ve waited for’ - Oluwaseyi
Minnesota United forward Tani Oluwaseyi is relishing his chance in the first team ahead of their clash with Sporting Kansas City.
The Loons have enjoyed a strong start to the MLS season and sit fifth in the Western Conference.
Sporting KC, meanwhile, sit three points below them in 10th having won just two of their opening nine matches.
Oluwaseyi scored the opening goal in Minnesota’s 3-0 win over Charlotte last weekend, which ended a run of three games without a victory.
Asked how it feels to break into the starting line-up after spending his first year at the club on loan, Oluwaseyi, who has scored a joint-high three goals, said:
“It's something that I've been waiting for, for I guess the last three years.
“I hoped that I could do it in year one, and that was kind of the goal going in, but everyone has a different journey, which is very evident in the game.
“So it took a couple of years, but I think being here now, being given the opportunity, the biggest thing for me is just grabbing an opportunity and making the most with it.”
Orlando City v Toronto FC: Pareja delighted with Lions’ character
Oscar Pareja is thrilled with the character his Orlando City players showed in their 2-2 draw with CF Montreal last time out.
Orlando conceded late against Montreal – in the 88th minute, in fact – but Ivan Angulo scored deep into stoppage time to salvage a point.
It was a result that extended Orlando’s unbeaten streak to four MLS games, as the Lions look to propel themselves up the Eastern Conference standings.
Next up is a home game against Toronto FC, and Pareja was proud of the resilience his team displayed.
He said: “I've seen the character of the team, and the willingness that we have with this group of players is incredible. It has happened already [this season], and then the last good result has shown that this group has a lot of intentions all the time to be upfront and try to propose the game.
“When we are at a disadvantage, we want to equalise with a lot of character, that's what we have. Once we start being more precise in the last third, I think we're going to have less problems, but we are resolving them and, really, I congratulate the players. I think they're doing a great job, they don't give up in any minute and today if we played five minutes more I think we win the game.”
Pareja knows his team must tighten up at the back, though.
He added: “We are trying to have more cohesiveness with the players that are starting or playing in the games. Our lines have to be better. Conceding early goals, or conceding goals especially in the first half for us, is something that we need to resolve, we need to figure it out. How can we be more solid? Not saying that it's just a defender’s problem, it’s a collective problem. We all have to be in charge. We need to be much better.”
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Orlando City – Duncan McGuire
McGuire scored three goals in his first two matches against Toronto. Five players in MLS history have scored in their first three matches against Toronto, most recently Josef Martinez in 2017-18.
Toronto FC – Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty
Marshall-Rutty set up Prince Owusu for Toronto’s lone goal on Saturday. Either Marshall-Rutty (two assists), Owusu (four goals) or both have been involved in each of Toronto’s last five MLS goals.
MATCH PREDICTION: ORLANDO CITY WIN
Toronto FC’s 1-0 win over the New England Revolution on Saturday was its fourth victory of the season, equalling their total from all of last season. Only one of the Reds’ last 25 regular-season matches dating back to late June has ended in a draw.
However, Orlando have lost only one of their last 16 regular-season home matches (W9 D6) dating back to late April 2023, a run that includes a 4-0 win over Toronto in July.
Indeed, Orlando are unbeaten in eight straight matches against Toronto (W6 D2) including winning the last four in a row. This is the Lions’ longest unbeaten run against a single opponent in regular-season play while they’ve won five in a row against an opponent once before, doing so against the Crew from 2018-21.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Orlando City – 59.6%
Toronto FC – 16.1%
Draw – 24.3%
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
