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Odion Ighalo says first Manchester United goal is a "dream come true"

Odion Ighalo

Odion Ighalo has expressed his delight at scoring his first Manchester United goal.

The Nigeria international moved to United, the club he supported as a boy, on a season-long loan deal from Shanghai Shenhua last month.

He made his debut in the 2-0 victory over Chelsea and was also involved as a substitute in Sunday's defeat of Watford.

Ighalo was handed his first start in Thursday's Europa League clash with Club Brugge, and he responded with his first United goal in a 5-0 triumph.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side won the tie 6-1 on aggregate and now advance to the last 16 of Europe's secondary competition.

“It was a great moment, I have been waiting for this since making my debut," he told BT Sport.

"I have it now and it starts my goal career here at the team I have supported since I was a little boy.

"It is a dream come true and I thank God for that.

"I promise myself that every goal I score I will dedicate to her [his late sister]. So she is up there watching me and doing well for MUFC."

"The confidence was high, we spoke about that before the game that it's played at home and the fans are behind us," Igahlo added. "We had to go all out from the first minute and push to go to the next round and we did.

"The first goal opened up everything and the red card made it difficult for them, with our attacking and playing at home too. From the start, we worked hard until the last minute."

Greg Lea

Greg Lea is a freelance football journalist who's filled in wherever FourFourTwo needs him since 2014. He became a Crystal Palace fan after watching a 1-0 loss to Port Vale in 1998, and once got on the scoresheet in a primary school game against Wilfried Zaha's Whitehorse Manor (an own goal in an 8-0 defeat).