Leicester City’s Kelechi Iheanacho has admitted to experiencing mixed emotions after he scored the winner against his former side Manchester City in the FA Community Shield on Saturday.
Iheanacho came off the bench to earn and convert a late penalty for Leicester to deny Pep Guardiola’s side the trophy.
“I’ve got mixed emotions,” the forward said after downing his old employers at Wembley. “I’m really grateful for getting the trophy today for my team. I’m really happy.”
Iheanacho was thrown into the fray in place of Harvey Barnes with the score still at 0-0 with ten minutes left. The Nigeria star was brought down in the area by Nathan Ake in the 87th minute but the referee initially waved play on.
However, after a VAR review, a penalty was awarded and Iheanacho stepped up to convert the spot kick.
“I think it’s a penalty. He caught me, the referee saw it,” Iheanacho said on the penalty incident. “He wanted us to play on so if we scored it would have been okay.
“I’ve been practising penalties. I missed one last season so I’ve been practising in pre-season. I had just one thing in my mind: just shoot at an angle and hit it hard, and that’s what I did.”
Iheanacho moved to Leicester City for a reported £25m from Manchester City in 2017. The 24-year-old helped the Foxes to the FA Cup trophy and a fifth place finish in the Premier League last season.
Leicester will welcome Wolves at the King Power Stadium next Saturday for their 2021/22 league opener.
