Super Eagles striker Kelechi Iheanacho scored the only goal for Celtic in their 1-1 draw against Crvenda Zvezda in their UEFA Europa League opener on Wednesday.

Coach Brendan Rodgers gave Iheanacho a place on the bench for their game at Crvenda Zvezda and favored Daizen Maeda to lead the line for the Hoops instead.

That decision did not yield the desired result for Celtic in the first half, as they only managed two goal attempts, despite having the lion share of the possession.

After the halftime break, Rodgers took off Maeda and introduced Iheanacho into the game. And that gave the reigning Scottish Premiership kings a significant boost in the final third.

Iheanacho needed just ten minutes to make an impact, as he scored the opener in the 55th minute. He skilfully controlled a pass from Benjamin Nygren in the box, and simply placed the ball in the bottom-left corner to make it 1-0 after 55 minutes.

Unfortunately for Celtic, their lead did not last long, as Marko Arnautovic equalized for Crvenda Zvezda in the 65th minute. The game ended that way after 90 minutes, with both teams sharing the spoils.

Kelechi Iheanacho’s Big Point To Brendan Rodgers

Brendan Rodgers’ decision to introduced Kelechi Iheanacho in the second half paid off, as he scored the only goal for them.

The Super Eagles star now has three back-to-back goal involvements at Celtic. Recall that he scored in his debut against Kilmarnock and nicked an assist against Partick Thistle last weekend.

With Iheanacho’s performances, he is certainly telling coach Rodgers that he deserves a place in the starting eleven.

More to follow…