Manchester City and Nigerian youth prodigy,Kelechi Iheanacho scored one and gave two classic assist as city beat Crystal Palace 5-1.
The Nigerian youth prodigy has been receiving rave reviews from coach Pellegrini and city fans.
Manuel Pellegrini hailed new Blue hero Kelechi Iheanacho for his goalscoring full debut … but it was the two assists that really made the boss smile.
And the Engineer, usually reticent to lavish praise on individuals, especially young ones, said he had “no doubts” the Nigerian has a big future.
His performance evoked memories of Daniel Sturridge – and he has the same self-confident swagger, on and off the field.
The 19-year-old grabbed the attention as the Blues cruised into the League Cup quarter-finals with a 5-1 thrashing of Crystal Palace to set up a home tie with Championship side Hull.
But for Pellegrini, the way he squared the ball for Kevin de Bruyne to score the second, and then expertly teed up Manu Garcia for his first City goal, meant much more.
“Kelechi for me is not just a finisher,” said Pellegrini. “He played very well. He must improve his control.
“But he always played with his head up so he made two important assists. He set up Kevin de Bruyne and after that, with more space, made a goal for Manu Garcia.
He can play behind the striker and arrive in the box to finish, as he did for his goal.
“It was very important for him to make a very good performance - he is a very good player.
