Fans Tip Ighalo For Ballon d’OrManchester United’s Nigerian striker Odion Ighalo scores the opening goal during the UEFA Europa League last 16, first leg football match Linzer ASK (LASK) v Manchester United in Linz, Austria, on March 12, 2020. – The match is being held behind closed doors due to the new coronavirus COVID-19. (Photo by JOE KLAMAR / AFP)

Odion Ighalo is being tipped to win the Ballon d’Or after his stunning goal for Manchester United against LASK on Thursday.

The Nigeria international put his side in the lead of the Europa League round of 16 clashes with an impressive strike as he received a Bruno Fernandes pass on and juggled it on the edge of the box before lashing into the top corner.

The goal gave United the lead in the first leg clash and his fourth goal for the club since joining on loan from Shanghai Shenhua in January.

The 30-year-old has now scored in all three of his starts for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team, but the stunner against LASK has been the most impressive so far.

Ighalo may be a long shot to win world football’s top individual accolade, but many on social media are already convinced he deserves it.

Meanwhile, all Uefa competitions, including Champions League and Europa League matches due to be played next week, have been postponed because of the coronavirus outbreak.

The draws for the next rounds, set for 20 March, have also been postponed.

In the Champions League, Manchester City vs Real Madrid, Juventus vs Lyon, Barcelona vs Napoli and Bayern Munich vs Chelsea are all postponed.

Manchester United, Wolves and Rangers’ matches in the Europa League are off.

All Uefa Youth League quarter-final matches scheduled for 17 and 18 March are also off.

UEFA said further decisions on the scheduling of the postponed fixtures “will be communicated in due course”.

European football’s governing body has invited representatives from all 55 of its member associations to a meeting on Tuesday in order to discuss a response to the coronavirus outbreak.

The scheduling of Euro 2020 will be discussed at the gathering.

More than 125,000 people have been diagnosed with coronavirus in 118 countries around the world, according to the World Health Organization. The total number of deaths is more than 4,600.

 

AFP