THERE were five Nigeria internationals in action in the English Premier League this afternoon with one of them, Kelechi Iheanacho, firing his side Leicester City to victory.
Taiwo Awoniyi and Emmanuel Dennis went down with Nottingham Forest at Liverpool, while Alex Iwobi played a key role as 10-man Everton held Crystal Palace to a draw, and Frank Onyeka helped Brentford to earn a point against Aston Villa.
Iheanacho scored one of the goals for Leicester City as they defeated Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-1 at the King Power Stadium to end a streak of four straight defeats.
The visitors struck first through Matheus Cunha in the 13th minute but Iheanacho confidently stroked home from the penalty spot in the 37th minute after Jamie Vardy was brought down in the Wolves box.
Iheanacho has now scored 55 goals for Leicester City. Jamie Vardy (168) is the only active Leicester player with more, according to Opta statistics.
Timothy Castagne netted the winner with 15 minutes to go as the Foxes secured their first win since February 11, having lost eight and drawn one during the dismal run.
Iheanacho was on from the start and lasted 85 minutes while his compatriot Wilfred Ndidi was a 67th minute substitute.
Leicester climbed out of the relegation zone into 17th spot with the win, while Wolves are 13th.
At Anfield, Forest put up a brave fight and Awoniyi almost got on the scoresheet with an audacious overhead kick, but they were beaten 3-2 by Liverpool.
Awoniyi played for 87 minutes against his former club while Dennis was on for the final three minutes and added time.
Diogo Jota scored twice for the hosts, with Mohamed Salah adding the other goal as they regained their lead after Forest equalised twice.
Forest fell to second from bottom, one point from safety, while Liverpool climbed above Brighton to seventh.
At Selhurst Park, Iwobi played all 90 minutes as usual for Everton, helping them to end Palace’s hot streak with a 0-0 draw.
Palace had won their first three games under returning manager Roy Hogson, but Iwobi and his colleagues resolutely kept a clean sheet, despite Mason Holgate’s 80th minute red card.
Everton are still 18th, in the relegation zone on goal difference, while Palace are safe in 12th.
At the Gtech Community Stadium, Onyeka was on from the start of the second half as Brentford played a 1-1 draw with Aston Villa.
Brentford are 10th in the table, four spots below Aston Villa, who are being steered towards the European places by Unai Emery.
In the other Premier League fixture today, Fulham defeated Leeds United 2-1 in the early kick-off.
