The first half substitution of Kelechi Iheanacho yesterday in Leicester City 1-1 draw against Norwich City came as a surprise to many judging by the fact that the Nigerian has impressed in the last two games of the team.
Iheanacho was yanked off in the 38 minutes of the game, few minutes after he caused a storm by refusing to pass the ball back to Norwich who were expecting him to observe the Fair Play rule as they were the team that kicked the ball out for Iheanacho’s teammate to receive medical attention.
The Nigerian was yanked off after Leicester drew level courtesy of an own goal by Tim Krul and his substitution has led to various insinuations on why coach Brendan Rodgers pulled him out. Some said it was probably related to his refusal to respect the fair play rule.
Rodgers have however said it was a tactical move and nothing related to the incident although he voiced his unhappiness that the Nigerian didn’t pass the ball back to Norwich City but instead attacked and almost got a chance on goal before he was fouled.
“It was one where we wanted to go to 4-3-3 and when we moved him out to the side, he’s not a natural winger, he’s not one who can play on that outside,” said Rodgers.
“So I can either leave it and wait until half-time or make the change when I did. And then make the other change on half-time. It was purely a tactical one.
“He was fine. He was disappointed because he’s been terrific for us in the past few games. He understands, he knows it was nothing personal, just the flow of the game needed to change”.
