Super Eagles striker Kelechi Iheanacho has been named the best player of the opening eight rounds of the Turkish 1. Lig by beIN SPORTS after making a stunning start to his career at Bursaspor, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
Iheanacho was selected for the award during the beIN 1. Lig programme by moderator Turgay Keskin and commentator Tunç Kayacı, who also named Bursaspor the best team of the opening eight rounds.
The 29-year-old has scored 11 goals and provided two assists in eight league appearances, finding the net in every game since joining the Turkish club as a free agent this summer.
His goals have helped Bursaspor make a strong start to the campaign, with the club winning six and drawing one of their opening eight matches to move top of the table with 19 points.
Iheanacho’s latest goals came in Bursaspor’s 2-1 comeback win over Batman Petrolspor on September 19, when he scored twice, including the 85th-minute winner.
The brace extended his scoring run to eight consecutive league matches and saw him equal the club record set by former striker Fernandao during the 2014/15 season.
The former Leicester City forward’s form has also earned him a recall to the Super Eagles, with coach Eric Chelle including him in the squad for Nigeria’s October 6 friendly against Russia.
Iheanacho joined Bursaspor after leaving Celtic, where he won the Scottish league and cup double last season.
He had previously played for Sevilla and Middlesbrough before moving to Scotland.
His prolific start in Turkey has quickly made him one of the key figures in Bursaspor’s promotion push, with the club leading the second-tier standings after eight matches.
Former Manchester United captain Roy Keane has said Manchester City players should throw their medals away if the club is ultimately stripped of titles over financial-rule breaches.
Speaking ahead of England’s match against the Czech Republic on Tuesday , Keane said the achievements of City’s players during the period in question had been undermined by the alleged financial misconduct.
“If I was a player, I’d be 100% sticking those medals in the bin. Of course you would, it’s cheating,” Keane told ITV Sport.
“They won it on the pitch because cheating was going on.”
The Premier League has found Manchester City guilty of breaches of its financial rules relating to a nine-year period between 2009 and 2018. City continue to deny wrongdoing and plan to appeal the decision.
City won eight trophies during the period, including three Premier League titles.
Keane also criticised the club, saying: “They knew it would hurt a lot of people, but they’ve still done it.”
However, former Manchester United teammate Wayne Rooney took a different view on whether United should receive titles retrospectively if City are stripped of them.
Rooney was part of the United side that finished runners-up to City in the 2011-12 Premier League season.
Speaking on the Stick to United podcast, he said: “I wouldn’t feel comfortable about accepting another Premier League medal if I’m being honest, because I don’t think we deserve it.
“We didn’t do enough that season to win the league.”
Rooney added that he would understand the disappointment of City players who may not have known about activities taking place above them.
Sanctions against Manchester City have yet to be announced, with a possible punishment including the removal of Premier League titles. City are expected to appeal the ruling.
Portugal coach Jorge Jesus has named 2023 African Player of The Year Victor Osimhen alongside Manchester City striker Erling Haaland as the strongest players in the world inside the penalty area, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
Jesus made the comparison when asked about Haaland’s influence on Portugal’s second UEFA Nations League fixture against Norway at the Ullevaal Stadium in Oslo on Sunday which ended 2-1 in favour of the tournament holders.
“Haaland is the most physically and technically powerful player inside the box,” Jesus said.
“Outside the area, he isn’t quite as dominant, even though he is fast. But inside the box, for me, he and Osimhen are the strongest in the world.”
Haaland ultimately scored Norway’s only goal. The 26-year-old has netted 65 goals in 57 appearances for Norway.
Stylistically, the two forwards share key attributes, with both relentless physical presences who dominate in the air, finish devastatingly and show exceptional mental resilience when the odds are stacked against them.
Haaland pulls ahead on sheer numbers, though, with 371 career goals for club and country compared to Osimhen’s 214.
Durability also separates the pair. Osimhen has struggled with recurring injuries throughout his career and is currently sidelined by another setback, while Haaland generally maintains greater consistency in fitness and match availability and continues his relentless scoring form across Europe.
Despite the differences, both forwards possess world-class profiles and are set to be remembered among the defining marksmen of their era.
Serbia forward Aleksandar Mitrović and Slovenia striker Benjamin Šeško are the only players to have scored in five consecutive UEFA Nations League matches, according to UEFA.
Benjamin Sesko. Credit: Sky Sport
The pair share the competition’s longest scoring streak, with Mitrović finding the net in five successive matches between June 5, 2022 and October 12, 2024, while Šeško achieved the feat between June 12, 2022 and September 9, 2024.
Both players also scored hat-tricks during their respective scoring runs.
Mitrović scored three times against Sweden on September 24, 2022, while Šeško netted a treble against Kazakhstan on September 9, 2024.
Meanwhile, UEFA, in a Saturday release, said 18 different players have scored Nations League hat-tricks, with Finland forward Joel Pohjanpalo the latest to join the list after scoring three times in Finland’s 7-0 victory over San Marino in September 2026.
Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo remains the only player to score a hat-trick in the Nations League Finals.
His treble came against Switzerland in the 2019 semi-final.
Norway forward Erling Haaland and Spain’s Ferran Torres are the youngest players to score Nations League hat-tricks, doing so at 20 years and 82 days and 20 years and 262 days respectively.
Norway’s forward #09 Erling Braut Haaland celebrates scoring his team’s second goal during the 2026 World Cup Group I football match between Norway and Senegal at the New York/New Jersey Stadium in East Rutherford on June 22, 2026. (Photo by Angela WEISS / AFP)
Nations League players with hat-tricks
– Yura Movsisyan (Armenia) — vs Gibraltar, November 16, 2018*
– Haris Seferović (Switzerland) — vs Belgium, November 18, 2018
– James Forrest (Scotland) — vs Israel, November 20, 2018
– Arber Zeneli (Kosovo) — vs Azerbaijan, November 20, 2018
– Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) — vs Switzerland, June 5, 2019
– Erling Haaland (Norway) — vs Romania, October 11, 2020
– Eran Zahavi (Israel) — vs Slovakia, October 14, 2020
– Haris Vučkić (Slovenia) — vs Moldova, October 14, 2020
– Ferran Torres (Spain) — vs Germany, November 17, 2020
– Stefan Mugoša (Montenegro) — vs Romania, June 14, 2022
– Aleksandar Mitrović (Serbia) — vs Sweden, September 24, 2022
– Benjamin Šeško (Slovenia) — vs Kazakhstan, September 9, 2024
– Kerem Aktürkoğlu (Türkiye) — vs Iceland, September 9, 2024
– Isaac Price (Northern Ireland) — vs Bulgaria, October 15, 2024
– Erling Haaland (Norway) — vs Kazakhstan, November 17, 2024
– Viktor Gyökeres (Sweden) — vs Azerbaijan, November 19, 2024*
Gyokeres celebrates his late winning goal
Sports Press Photo, SPP Sport Press Photo. / Alamy / Profimedia
– Nikola Krstović (Montenegro) — vs Türkiye, November 19, 202
– Vedat Muriqi (Kosovo) — vs Iceland, March 23, 2025
– Joel Pohjanpalo (Finland) — vs San Marino, September 26, 2026
*UEFA denotes Movsisyan and Gyökeres as players who scored four goals in those matches.
Longest successive scoring runs
5 matches
– Aleksandar Mitrović (Serbia) — June 5, 2022 to October 12, 2024
– Benjamin Šeško (Slovenia) — June 12, 2022 to September 9, 2024
4 matches
– Răzvan Marin (Romania) — September 6, 2024 to October 15, 2024
– Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Georgia) — October 14, 2020 to June 9, 2022
– Georges Mikautadze (Georgia) — November 16, 2024 to September 25, 2026
– Viktor Gyökeres (Sweden) — October 14, 2024 to present
