Nigeria’s most successful football club, Enyimba FC began the quest for their ninth title with a hard-fought 2-1 away win over Nasarawa United at the New Jos Stadium in Plateau State.
The People’s Elephants were off the mark early in the game, with striker Sadiq Abubakar threatening the opponent’s goal with a well-taken shot that was too high to trouble Yinka David in goal for Nasarawa United.
However, Enyimba would not be denied on the second time of asking, as a brilliant strike in the 32nd minute by attacking midfielder Akanni Elijah from about 25 yards out left David completely helpless.
Five minutes later, Imo Obot doubled his side’s lead with a wonderful free kick.
The left back sent a thunderous striker past the goalkeeper from the right side to put his team two goals ahead heading into the second half.
As anticipated, the Solid Miners mounted a comeback and came close to scoring twice in quick succession, with goalkeeper Olorunleke Ojo denying Ogbelu Onuche’s free kick attempt while substitute right back Abubakar Abdullahi rattled the crossbar with his header following a cross from the resulting corner kick.
Ojo was called into action minutes later, denying Ikenna Offor’s effort from the penalty spot, but Oche Josiah reacted quickest, sending a header into the back of the net to pull one back for Nasarawa United.
After the game, former Nigerian international and coach of Enyimba, Finidi George, expressed his happiness for the result.
He said: “I am really happy, but being our first match of the new abridged league format, I think alot of the players were a little bit too careful. However, I commend the boys for the three points because it was a very difficult game.”
When asked about their drop in intensity in the second half, the 51-year-old gaffer explained that he and his coaching staff would definitely try to find out the reasons and work on them.
“It’s a new season; I don’t think we did badly and nothing was wrong really. If we lost, we would’ve asked ourselves certain questions, and playing in these areas [Jos] is very tough and we gave ourselves a nice cushion with the two first-half goals but we’ll definitely work on staying longer in games,” the former Real Betis player said.
The match was the second game of the new NPFL season, and it was the first time in two seasons that Enyimba FC had scored two or more away goals.
This season promises to be captivating, with two away wins already in two games after Bendel Insurance saw off Akwa United 2-0 at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium last Sunday.
Enugu Rangers and Abia Warriors will kick off the remainder of matchday 1 games at the Awka City Stadium in Anambra on Sunday, January 14, at 3 p.m. (WAT), while the other seven matches will commence nationwide at 4 p.m. (WAT), with defending champions Rivers United set to face Lobi Stars.
