Will Iheanacho get into City's knockout squad?
Saturday, January 30, 2016
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Kelechi Iheanacho was left out of Manchester City's squad for the group stage but after a hat-trick on Saturday he may be harder to overlook for the knockouts.
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Kelechi Iheanacho was left out of Manchester City's UEFA Champions League squad for the group stage but after rounding off a big week with his first professional hat-trick, the 19-year-old has left Manuel Pellegrini with a welcome headache.
On Tuesday evening, City and the other 16 teams remaining in European football's elite competition must submit their squads for the knockout stages. With space at a premium, Iheanacho was overlooked in the group stage but he may be more difficult to ignore now.
Last weekend the Nigerian teenager came on to help City earn a point against West Ham, his link-up play with Sergio Agüero particularly catching the eye. He eclipsed that on Saturday, though, scything through Aston Villa time and again as he claimed the match ball in a 4-0 FA Cup victory.
With Agüero watching from the bench, Iheanacho broke the deadlock inside four minutes, a poacher's effort following a corner. What happened midway through the first half was perhaps more instructive of his status, though. Raheem Sterling won a penalty and prepared to take it.
Skipper Pablo Zabaleta had other ideas, stepping in and giving the ball to Iheanacho. The coolness of the finish, sending the keeper the wrong way with a shimmied run-up, vindicated the decision. "What Kelechi Iheanacho did I couldn't even do in training," former England striker Dion Dublin remarked on BBC radio.
He was quieter in the second half but, just as Villa threatened to pull one back, he capitalised on a poor back pass and fired in to complete his hat-trick, Sterling later adding a fourth.
Earlier in the week, in an interview with the Manchester Evening News, Pellegrini spoke of the danger of Iheanacho getting frustrated by a lack of playing time. "Every time young players have the chance it's important they take that chance and show why the manager has done it," he said.
"Every time [Iheanacho] has played this season he has done very well, so of course he will have more chances." After Saturday, could those opportunities come on the European stage?
The full regulations around player registration can be found in here, in Article 44.