Ighalo out to rewrite the record books

The Nigerian centre-forward was handed a place in the starting XI for the first time since United's resumption earlier this month, when included in the line-up for the Emirates FA Cup clash at Norwich City last Saturday.

He responded by scoring the opening goal, forcing a red-card challenge from Timm Klose and playing a part in the build-up to Harry Magure's dramatic extra-time winner.

When Ighalo leads the line from the first whistle, he has guaranteed goals, with five of them coming in just four full appearances, ensuring he is only the second man in the club's illustrious history to find the net in each of his first four starts.

Jimmy Hanson is the only other Red to do so, scoring against Hull City, Blackpool and Derby County in Division Two, way back in November 1924. The local lad had to wait until September 1925 for his next outing but was on the mark again, in a 2-2 draw at Aston Villa. Although his run ended in a draw with Manchester City, he did net again in the following fixture, a 6-1 thrashing of Burnley.

Hence, Odion has the opportunity to set a new record if he scores in his next start, after his efforts against Club Brugge, Derby County (2), LASK and Norwich.

Whether that comes at Brighton & Hove Albion remains to be seen but his excellent display at Carrow Road has certainly given Ole Gunnar Solskjaer a decision to make, even if Anthony Martial's hat-trick in the last Premier League match, against Sheffield United, means he looks certain to start on the south coast.

“Well, I’m grateful to God for that,” the striker told us about the record. “I’m very happy because it’s a great achievement for me. I think my name is being in the book in United’s history and I’m very happy for that.

“Especially as, in the game on Saturday, we won and got to the semi-final. That was the most important thing as it was a difficult game, so scoring and winning the game makes it even greater for me. I’m happy with this achievement, it’s a bit of history made and I hope to keep adding more to it.”

Ighalo is confident United can extend our unbeaten run to 15 games, even though Brighton have made an impressive return to action.

"It’s tough but this is what it is," he explained. "This is the job. We don’t have any other jobs so we are happy to do it. We have to keep doing it. It’s a tough one after 120 minutes two days ago. We’ve just finished training and are getting ready to fly down to Brighton.

“It’s a tough game on Tuesday evening but we don’t have any excuses. We’re only going there to win. The manager will probably rotate the team and bring in fresh legs so that we can keep going. It’s one of the advantages of having a big squad, having players ready to come in to change the game and come in to play in any position, so it’s really good for us."

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