Odion Ighalo against Norwich players (Twitter)

By AFP/NAN

Manchester United boss, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has poured encomiums on former Super Eagles star, Odion Ighalo following his performance for the side on Saturday.

The Nigerian scored the opening goal for United in their quarter-final FA Cup win against Norwich City at Carrow Road.

Ighalo scored the goal in the first five minutes of the match when he jabbed the ball over Tim Krul in goal for Norwich, his fifth in four games for the club, leaving Solskjaer proud of the former Watford man.

“Odion knows how much we value him in and around the dressing room and, of course, on the pitch,” the coach told the club’s website.

Solskjaer described Ighalo as “a goalscorer and a poacher” who is strong on the ball.

He noted that the striker gives the team options and “the chance to rotate with Marcus [Rashford], Anthony [Martial], and Mason [Greenwood] so they can get a rest and be fresh for every game.”

Ighalo signed a loan extension with United on June 1, a deal which would see him stay at the Premier League club until the end of the season.

Ighalo’s initial loan deal from Shanghai Shenhua expired at the end of May, but the 30-year-old has been rewarded for an impressive return of four goals in eight appearances for United before football was shut down by the coronavirus pandemic in March.

“Manchester United have reached agreement with Shanghai Greenland Shenhua to extend the loan deal for Odion Ighalo,” United said in a statement.

“He will now remain with the Reds until 31 January 2021, enabling him to build on an impressive start to life with the club he supported as a boy.”