Odion Ighalo has his sights set on an entry in the Manchester United history books, with the Nigerian striker having maintained a stunning run of scoring form when it comes to starting games for the Red Devils.
When included in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s line-up, the 31-year-old frontman has guaranteed end product.
The target has been found in each of his four starts to date, with five goals recorded in total.
Ighalo’s latest came in an FA Cup semi-final victory over Norwich, with the deadlock broken at Carrow Road in what proved to be a dramatic 2-1 win for United after extra-time.
His goal-getting feats mean that the experienced striker has now matched the achievement of Jimmy Hanson from 1925 – with the former United player the only other man to have netted on his first four starts for the club.
Ighalo is delighted to be delivering record-setting performances for the Red Devils and hopes there will be more to come from him over the coming weeks as he seeks to cement a place in Old Trafford folklore.
“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,” Ighalo told the club’s official website of emulating Hanson.
“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, who has seen his loan deal at United extended through to January 2021, has helped Solskjaer’s side to stretch their unbeaten run across all competitions to 14 games.
The challenge now, with silverware and a top-four finish on the line, is to maintain those standards through to the end of the season.
“It’s tough but this is what it is,” added Ighalo, with United heading to Brighton on Tuesday as the games continue to come thick and fast.
“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.”