Kelechi Iheanacho and Wilfred Ndidi were both on the score sheet as Leicester City defeated Burton 2-0 in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday.
Leicester were playing in the first round of the Carabao Cup for the first time in a decade after they got relegated to the Championship last season.
Iheanacho opened the scoring in the sixth minute of the game with a deft flick from Marc Albrighton’s cross.
The Super Eagles forward had earlier headed wide with just 60 seconds of the game played.
With Leicester offering most of the attacking play, they were unable to double their tally.
Breakthrough however came in the second minute of additional time in the first half when Iheanacho turned provider, finding his international teammate Ndidi, who gently stroked the ball into Jamal Blackman’s top corner to score the second goal.
Both Iheanacho and Ndidi had opportunities to score in the second half, but were stopped by Blackman behind the poles for Burton.
Iheanacho fired straight at Blackman, while Ndidi’s low cross caused chaos, with the Burton ‘keeper sticking out a desperate arm to keep the deflection out.
Leicester manager Enzo Maresca was pleased with his side’s dominant performance in the game.
“It’s always good to win,” the Italian said. “As we saw last night and tonight, many Championship clubs are out of the competition. It’s never easy, but we made it easy in the way we played. I’m very happy.
“The target in this moment – even if people struggle to believe me – is to see the team working day by day and improving game after game. Tonight, also for me, it was important to see the players that are playing less minutes, to see how they react and how they improve.”
He also expressed delight at his midfielders finding the back of the net after Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall scored both goals as The Foxes came from a goal down to defeat Coventry City 2-1 in their Championship opener on Sunday.
“It’s fantastic for them,” he added. “As I said many times, the only way to score goals for them is to arrive inside the box. Kiernan [Dewsbury-Hall] arrived many times. Wilfred [Ndidi] tonight, Dennis [Praet] too. They are key players for us,” Maresca said.
Iheanacho was also named Man of the Match in the game.
