Super Eagles: What O’Neill said about Iheanacho after Hibernian clash

Martin O’Neill has shared his thoughts on Kelechi Iheanacho’s performance in Celtic’s 2-1 win over Hibernian on Sunday, Afrik-Foot reports.

The Super Eagles forward grabbed the headlines once again, scoring what proved to be the match-winner in the Scottish league encounter as the champions kept their hopes of a successful title defence alive and moved temporarily level at the top of the standings.

The Hoops were three points behind Hearts, who face Rangers on Monday, heading into the clash and were handed a massive advantage in the first half when Hibernian had Jamie McGrath sent off as early as the 21st minute.

Daizen Maeda then put Celtic ahead a few minutes before halftime, but the home side hit back almost immediately when Joe Newell scored the equalizer in first-half stoppage time to leave the scores level heading into the break.

Celtic pushed for a winner in the second half and Iheanacho was brought on, with the Super Eagles striker making an instant impact by scoring just two minutes after his introduction to seal the victory.

Martin O’Neill heaps praise on Kelechi Iheanacho’s match-winner

Super Eagles striker Kelechi Iheanacho has now scored four goals in his last five appearances across all competitions and is beginning to show a strong return to form after a stop-start campaign.

This impressive run has earned him praise from head coach Martin O’Neill, who was impressed with his composure on the ball and the immediate impact he made on the game.

“Overall, I’m naturally delighted to have won the game, that’s the most important thing, but we made it really difficult for ourselves, particularly in the second half”, O’Neill said post-match.

“We finally forced the goal – Iheanacho scored the goal, which was delightful, and it wins the game for us. Sometimes it’s really difficult when you’re coming off the bench.

“First of all, you have to try and get into the game, secondly, something might fall to you, but he showed great composure because the ball took an age to come down, and he still put it in the net as only he can do.

“We won today, so whatever result happens tomorrow, it happens. We’re just going to get ourselves physically prepared for the derby and mentally prepared for the game”, the Celtic boss concluded.

Iheanacho will now be hoping to play a bigger role for Celtic in their remaining games this season and potentially add to his goal tally.

The Hoops are still in contention to win a fifth straight Scottish league title and are also set to feature in the Scottish Cup final later in the month.