Pep Guardiola revealed he started Nigeria super teen Kelechi Iheanacho against Manchester United in the Manchester Derby because he wanted to make a statement to his players.

The Nigerian was handed a shock start upfront ahead of other contenders in the absence of top striker Sergio Aguero and he repaid the manager’s faith by scoring the winner for Manchester City.

” He was the only striker we had in that moment. I thought about many other options- but I thought in the beginning to show my players that I came to win the game” He said after the 2-1 win.

On why he withdrew the 19 year old just eight minutes into the second half. The Spaniard explained that the need for defensive re-enforcement in the wake of countless attacks from Manchester United made him introduce Fernando in place of the match winner.

“In the second half we started poorly – they had many crosses. We had the ball, then lost the ball. Had the ball – lost the ball.

“In the second half United pushed a lot. The substitutions from my colleague were really good.

“They played long balls and diagonals to win and it was almost impossible.

“Fernando was the key player in the second half for us,”

Nigerian forward Anthony Nwakaeme once again showed his qualities in front of goal scoring a hattrick to help Hapoel Beer Sheva beat Bnei Sakhnin 3-0 in an Israel League game.

Nwakaeme went home with the match ball after scoring in the 49th, 80th and 85th minute of the champions comprehensive win over their visitors. His fifth goal in three games.

The forward scored 11 goals last season to power Hapoel Beer Sheva to the title, in his first season at the club after three years at fellow Israeli side Hapoel Ra’anana, where he scored 15 times in three seasons at the club.

Teammate to out of favour Super Eagles midfielder John Ogu, the 27 year old played in Romania for five years before moving to Israel in 2013.

Hungarian-Nigerian defender Kenneth Otigba who is reportedly a target for new Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr did his chances a whole lot of good with a goal in Kasimpasa 1-3 loss to Istanbul Basaksehir.

He scored the first goal of the game in the 33rd minute in what is his third game since joining the Turkish side on loan from Dutch side Hereenveen this summer.

24 year old Otigba who has long voiced out his desire to represent Nigeria at senior level despite playing for Hungary at youth level will reportedly be scouted by the new Eagles coach in the coming days.

However what would have been a perfect day for him, was ruined by a booking and three second half goals scored by Istanbul Basaksehir to grind out a 3-1 comeback win.

Emem Eduok who joined the Turkish side this summer as well made his debut, coming on in the 83rd minute substitute with scores at 2-1, but the former Esperance of Tunisia forward failed to spark life into his team as they conceded a late third despite his introduction.

Meanwhile Musa Mohammed who made his competitive debut for Nigeria in the dead rubber AFCON 2017 qualifiers against Tanzania was once again not listed for action by Istanbul Basaksehir.

Since joining the Turkish side last summer, he has only made 5 appearances all in the cup without a single appearance in the league for the modest side.

Sunday Mba celebrated his new two year deal with Turkish second division side Yeni Malatyaspor with a goal in their 1-1 draw against Denizlispor in a league game.

27 year old Mba who was playing in his first game of the season is picking up the pieces of his career in Turkey after what turned out to be a wrong move to French third division side CA Bastia.

The ambitious second division side tied the forward to a new deal two days ago, a sign of how priceless he is to them in their aspiration to gain promotion to the top flight league in Turkey.

Last season, his first in Turkey, he scored six times in 29 games for the team that also has Nigeria Olympic maestro Azubuike Okechukwu on their books as well,

It was a a battle of two Nigerian strikers when Manisaspor drew 3-3 with Eskisehirspor, with Michael Eneramo scoring on his debut while Ofoedu scored twice for Eskisehirspor.

Eskisehirspor failed to hang on to their 3-1 lead, throwing away their two goals lead in two minute to draw 3-3, thanks to out of favour Super Eagles striker Eneramo who scored the goal that brought scores to 3-2.

The second division clash saw Ofoedu draw first blood in the battle by scoring in the 56th and 80th minute, before Eneramo popped up with a goal of his own in his first game for his new side in the 84th minute.

Former Enugu Rangers forward Ofoedu who hit 10 goals in consecutive seasons for Samsunspor before his move to
Eskisehirspor this summer now has two goals in the first two games of the season.

Meanwhile Eneramo had an injury blighted time last season managing only 10 appearances with just one goal to his name for Sivasspor.His move to Manisaspor at the age of 30 is viewed by many as his last chance to make an impression in Turkey.

Theophilus Solomon is showing his form for second division side NK Sibenik last season, where he scored 13 goals is no fluke after scoring his third goal in five games in the top flight league to wrap up a comprehensive 3-0 win for Istra over RNK Split.

He opened his season account on his debut netting against Lokomotiva Zagreb and followed it up with another against Ciballa but this is the first time he is tasting victory since joining Istra.

The forward who played for Nigeria U-23s in their 1-0 friendly win over Brazil in Rio before the Olympic appears to be delivering on the promises, that made Italian giants Juventus push to sign him when he was 16.

On loan from league giants Rijeka, the forward who has banished the injury demons that slowed down his career the past years scored on the dot of 90 minutes to cap an all round fine display.

Before scoring he was a handful for the defence of the home side, causing them all sort of trouble with his pace, skills and power which saw him fouled for the penalty from which Istra scored their second goal.

Since making his professional debut for NK Zadar two seasons ago, the 20 year old who has scored a hattrick in his last two seasons has scored over 20 professional goals.

Kelechi Iheanacho has entered into the record books with his goal for Manchester City in the 2-1 derby win against Manchester United at Old Trafford.

19 year old Iheanacho was handed a start by manager Pep Guardiola in the absence of star forward Sergio Kun Aguero and the Nigerian didn’t disappoint putting in a performance that played a big role in the win for City.

He created the first goal for Manchester City, before scoring their second goal minutes afterwards to move into the history books as the youngest ever goal scorer for Manchester City in the history of the Manchester derby.

His goal also saw him move into a selected list of African players who have scored in the tie, joining the trio of Tunisian Hatem Ben Arfa, Ivory Coast Yaya Toure and Benjani of Zimbabwe.

Also his strike made him the first Nigerian to score a goal in the historic fixture. He also holds the record of the first Nigerian to have played in the fixture, a feat he achieved last season.

Nigeria Under-17 World Cup winner Samuel Chukwueze recently resumed training with FC Porto and, with the left footed dazzler yet to turn 18, Owngoalnigeria.com can reveal the status of his current deal with the Portuguese giants.

Chukwueze widely regarded as one of the best teen footballers in Nigeria, was heavily tipped to join his Under-17 winning compatriot Kelechi Nwakali at Arsenal but the move broke down due to disagreements over transfer fee and mode of payments.

We gathered he has signed a pre contract with FC Porto, who will in turn make the deal a permanent one once he turned 18 by May next year. For now he will train with the U-17 team of the club till December when he is expected to return back to Nigeria.

He is presently only entitled to stipends for his upkeeps until his 18th year birthday next year, although the Portuguese side have already paid a part of the agreed transfer fee.

Portuguese giants FC Porto have put a halt to the wedding plans of summer signing Musa Yahaya, who has earlier planned to tie the knot with popular Hausa movie star Rahama Sadau in December.

Yahaya who is close to breaking into the first team of FC Porto after making the step up to the main team where he has had training sessions, the last two weeks has been told he won’t be released in December.

Agent to the former Tottenham Hotspur trainee Babawo Mohammed told Owngoalnigeria.com that Porto’s order could see the wedding postponed to next year.

” It’s true that he has plans of getting married to popular movie star Rahama Sadau but no date has been set yet. December is the date proposed by him but FC Porto wants him around that time, so there’s every likelihood it will take place next year” Babawo told Owngoalnigeria.com.

” We have to put his career first, so he is calm about it, and he respects the decision of FC Porto. He is progressing nicely and they don’t want him to have a sudden break at least not now”.

Former Nigeria Professional Football League feared forward Sibi Gwar has pitched tent with Victoria Hotspurs FC of Malta from fellow Maltese team Mosta FC.

Gwar moved to Malta last year after a brief stint with Shooting Stars but his time with Mosta wasn’t the best, as the team had lots of financial problems.

The 29 year old started his career at BCC Lions FC before having high profile stints with Kwara United, Lobi Stars, Enyimba FC, Niger Tornadoes and Shooting Stars.

In 2012 after scoring 12 goals for Kwara United in the Nigeria Professional Football League he was called up to the senior Nigeria national team by late coach Stephen Keshi for a friendly game against Niger Republic.

He is fondly remembered by followers of the Nigeria League for his time at Niger Tornadoes where he emerged as top scorer with 17 goals in the league.