Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini tips Kelechi Iheanacho for big things

Manuel Pellegrini tipped Kelechi Iheanacho for a bright future after the teenage striker came off the bench to score the winner in Manchester City’s 1-0 win over Crystal Palace.

The Chilean sent the Academy graduate on for Wilfried Bony with a minute to play and the Nigerian scored his first City goal in added time to spark scenes of jubilation in the away end.

"I always trusted Kelechi because strikers are strikers and he knows how to score," said the City boss.

"Kelechi is a very young player, he just turned 18, but I believe in him - it's not easy for him to play because he has Kun (Sergio Aguero) and Bony in front of him and they are very good players, but I think the way he continues improving working with the squad the whole week he will continue demonstrating why he's an important player for this team."

Pellegrini watched Palace dominate his side in the opening 45 minutes at Selhurst Park with City's players looking jaded after the international break.

But they came out in the second half with renewed vigour and were rewarded for their endeavour with Iheanacho's late winner.

"We knew it was going to be a very tough game. Playing Crystal Palace at home is very difficult because they have a good team and they're in a very good moment and I think we have won three very important points," said Pellegrini.

"They started stronger and were more aggressive. They didn't have many chances to score in the first half, but they played better and when you come back from the international break it's normal to not have the team 100% focused at the beginning of the game.

"At the half-time we changed and absolutely dominated the second half. We had more clear chances and finally we score that goal at the end that we deserved."

This victory saw City maintain their unbeaten start to the Premier League season, with five wins from five games, but Pellegrini refused to get carried away, insisting it's too early in the season to start celebrating.