Before his well-documented decline at Watford, Odion Ighalo set Vicarage Road alight with his pace, movement and goalscoring proficiency, yet one of the club record he set during his time in Hertfordshire could be surpassed on Tuesday.
In 2015, the Super Eagles frontman, who left the Hornets for Chinese side Changchun Yatai in January, found the net in three consecutive home games.
In completing his hat-trick of strikes, Ighalo equalled a club record that’s jointly held by three other players, including Michael Ngonge, who set the record in 1999, and Heidar Helguson in 2000.
The third player is the Nigerian’s former teammate and current club captain Troy Deeney, with the attacker having found the net in Watford’s last three home games at Vicarage Road, the 2-1 victory over Burnley in early February, the 1-1 draw with West Ham United and the 4-3 defeat by Southampton last month.
If he can find the net against West Bromwich Albion in a Premier League tie on Tuesday, then the forward will eclipse the Nigerian’s achievement and stand alone as the record holder.
Ighalo was influential as Watford returned to the Premier League in 2015, scoring 20 times as the Hornets clinched promotion from the Championship.
His fine form initially continued in the top flight with 14 goals during the first half of the campaign. However, his output inexplicably dipped following the start of 2016, with Ighalo leaving for the CSL at the start of 2017 having scored just three goals last year.
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