Ndidi Sent Off, Iheanacho Benched In Leicester Win; Lukaku Scores 100th EPL Goal

By James Agberebi:
Super Eagles midfielder Wilfred Ndidi was sent off for Leicester City who still went on to beat Brighton and Hove Albion 2-0 away in the Premier League on Saturday, Completesportsnigeria.com reports.

The sending off was Ndidi’s second of this season after he got his matching orders back in December in a 3-0 home defeat to Crystal Palace

Ndidi received his second yellow card in the 87th minute after a tackle on Shane Duffy, although replays showed the Nigerian did not touch the Brighton player who went down theatrically.

Glenn Murray had the chance to open the scoring for Brighton from the penalty spot on 79 minutes but saw his effort saved by Kasper Schmeichel.

Leicester went on to score two late goals from Vicente Iborra and Jamie Vardy in the 83rd and 90th minutes respectively.

Nigeria forward Kelechi Iheanacho was an unused substitute for Leicester who are now eighth on 43 points on the log.

Also on Saturday, Romelu Lukaku reached a milestone as he scored his 100th Premier League goal in Manchester United’s 2-0 win over Swansea City at Old Trafford.

Lukaku, 24 years and 322 days old, is now the fifth youngest player to score 100 Premier League goals after Michael Owen (23 years 134 days), Robbie Fowler (23 years 283 days), Wayne Rooney (24 years 100 days), and Harry Kane (24 years 191 days).

Lukaku is also the 28th player to have scored 100 EPL goals, and the first Belgian to do so.

Alexis Sanchez also ended his eight-game run without a goal in all competitions for Manchester United in the win.

United got off to a good start as they went 1-0 up on five minutes thanks to Lukaku who finished Sanchez’s assist.

In the 20th minute, Sanchez doubled United’s lead to give them the win and return them to second place in the league table on 68 points.

They are now two points ahead of third-placed Liverpool who edged Crystal Palace 2-1 in the early kick-off on Saturday with Mohamed Salah scoring the winner.

At the London Stadium, West Ham gave their survival push a huge boost following their impressive 3-0 home win against fellow strugglers Southampton.

A brace from Marko Arnautovic (17th, 45th minutes) and a goal from Joao Mario saw West Ham move up from 17th to 14th position to 33 points while Southampton are in the relegation zone in 18th spot with 28 points.

Burnley’s push towards qualification for European places continued as they defeated relegation-bound West Bromwich Albion 2-1 at the Hawthorns.

A goal in each half from Ashley Barnes (22nd minute) and Chris Wood (73rd minute) put Burnley 2-0 up.

Salomon Randon pulled a goal back on 83 minutes which turned out to be a consolation for the home side.

Burnley are now on 46 points and seventh position, 10 points behind Chelsea who occupy the Europa League spot in fifth position.

West Brom remain rooted to the bottom on 20 points in the league table.

In other results, Newcastle edged Huddersfield 1-0 at St. James’ Park and Bournemouth forced Watford to a 2-2 draw at Vicarage Road.

EPL results:

Man United 2-0 Swansea

West Ham 3-0 Southampton

Watford 2-2 Bournemouth

Brighton 0-2 Leicester

West Brom 1-2 Burnley

Newcastle 1-0 Huddersfield

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