Leicester City forward, Kelechi Iheanacho will be seeking to upstage former Chelsea star,Didier Drogba as the top-scoring African in the prestigious FA Cup when the Foxes face Mikel Obi’s Stoke City today in the third round of the competition.
Drogba tops the scorer’s chart with 12 goals from 29 games across nine seasons while Iheanacho is just two goals behind the legendary Ivorian from just 14 games across five seasons.
If the Leicester City forward scores twice today like he has done thrice in the past in the competition, he will equal Drogba’s record and if he scores a hat-trick as he did in his second game in the competition against Aston Villa when he scored thrice and provided an assist in Manchester City’s 4-0 win in January 2016, then the Nigerian will be top-scoring African in the competition.
The Nigerian has already proved to be the most lethal African striker in the competition going by his goal per game ratio, scoring 10 times in just 10 games while Drogba featured 29 times and across nine seasons for Chelsea to score 12 goals.
Iheanacho has already made history as the top-scoring Nigerian in the competition both in terms of actual goals scored and goal to game ratio. Former Nigeria internationals, Yakubu Aiyegbeni and Nwankwo Kanu are joint seconds with eight goals each. While Yak scored his eight goals from 22 games across eight seasons, Kanu scored his in 28 games across 12 seasons.
Another former Nigeria international, Victor Moses, and Manchester United forward, Odion Ighalo are joint third with five goals. Moses scored his in 28 games across 12 seasons while Ighalo has netted his five goals in just 10 games across four seasons.
Iheanacho’s Nigerian compatriot at the King Power Stadium, Wilfred Ndidi will be hoping to start his sixth game in nine appearances in the competition. The former RC Genk of Belgium star has scored twice in the event and actually played his first game in England in the competition, featuring for the entire duration of the Foxes’ 2-1 away win at Derby.