Nigerian Football
At Nigeria league day 8, men are separated from boys!
BY DIEGWU NWANKWOR FOR IMC MEDIA
Plateau United have produced the biggest win in this season of the Nigerian Premier League as theymoved into the championship playoff spots after a comprehensive 5-0 victory over El-Kanemi Warriors.
After pulling a commendable 1-1 draw in Ikenne at the weekend, the Jos side got off to a flying start scoring three goals in the first 30 minutes.
Anthony Sunday scored first in the 4th minute before Eru Jackson (21st minute) and Ibrahim Mustapha (28th minute) took the match beyond the visiting El Kanemi who were poor on the day.
Second-half goals from Tochukwu Udeh (63rd minute) and Uche Onwuansanya (90+2) only heaped more misery on the visitors.
The win saw Plateau United move up to third in Group A, level on points with Remo Stars.
Plateau’s joy of moving into the playoff spots could however depend on the outcome of Akwa United versus Gombe United clash at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in the final fixture of MatchDay 8.
Remo Stars dropped out of the championship playoff spot after playing out a goalless draw with Kwara United. The draw leaves Kwara United one point off the relegation zone on the eighth position with six points.
Enyimba continued their fine run of form with three straight wins after brushing aside underperforming Shooting Stars 2-0 in Aba.
Chukwuemeka Obioma Godson scored a brace first in the 2nd minute before doubling the lead at the stroke of halftime. The defeat leaves Shooting Stars four points off the championship playoff places. With the two goals, Obioma becomes the leading scorer with seven goals from eight games.
Finally in Group A, leaders, Bendel Insurance returned to winning ways after edging Nasarawa United 1-0 at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, Benin City. The all-important goal was scored by Ebuka Akubundu in the 67th minute. Insurance is still unbeaten this season.
In Group B, leaders Lobi Stars saw their six-match unbeaten run come to an end after losing 2-1 at Wikki. An early goal by Muhammed Guda (6th minute) gave the home side the lead but Lobi equalized in the 34th minute through Umar Abba. However, it was Wikki who will have the last laugh when Muhammed Guda got his brace in the 38th minute to seal all three points for the Tourists who are now undefeated in their last three matches.
In Gombe, Abia Warriors missed the chance to go top of Group B after a narrow 1-0 loss to Doma United.
After a keenly contested first half, it was Doma who won all three points after Musa Usman scored in the 49th minute. The win lifts Doma to fifth on the table with 12 points while Abia Warriors are still second with 13 points.
Sunshine Stars missed the chance to get into the championship playoff spots after a 2-1 defeat to Dakkada at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, Uyo.
After a goalless first half, it was Dakkarda that took the lead through Emmanuel Ayaosi in the 70th minute but the lead lasted just four minutes with Udom Ekerette leveling for Sunshine.
However, the visitor’s joy was short-lived as Dakkarda made it 2-1 two minutes later with Kareem Abdoulaye scoring the winner for the home side, who remain in the relegation zone, one point behind Wikki Tourists who are in 8th position.
Niger Tornadoes are now two points clear of the relegation zone after playing out a 1-1 draw with Bayelsa United, still sitting at the bottom of Group B.
David Okurumi gave Tornadoes the lead in the 26th minute but Bayelsa United equalized in the 44th minute through Robert Mizo.
Group A Results:
Bendel Insurance 1-0 Nasarawa United
Enyimba 2-0 Shooting Stars
Plateau United 5-0 El Kanemi Warriors
Kwara United 0-0 Remo Stars
Thursday:
Akwa United v Gombe United – 4 pm
Group B:
Niger Tornadoes 1-1 Bayelsa United
Dakkada 2-1 Sunshine Stars
Doma United 1-0 Abia Warriors
Wikki Tourists 2-1 Lobi Stars
Rivers United pp Enugu Rangers
The Nigeria U17 women’s team has been given incentives to make it to the Women’s World Cup for the eighth time.
The team, Flamingos, who arrived in Algiers in the early hours of Wednesday aboard a Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul, are highly inspired by the imminence of another FIFA World Cup ticket as well as further financial windfall from the Nigeria Football Federation and billionaire business mogul Kunle Soname.
Soname gifted the young players and their officials the sum of N4 million (one million naira for every goal) following their commanding win over the North Africans at the Remo Stars Stadium on Saturday, while the NFF gave out the sum of N2 million (five hundred thousand naira for every goal).
President of NFF, Ibrahim Musa Gusau and Soname have both confirmed that the same financial incentives are in place for the second leg in Blida on Friday.
“Our objective is clear – to win the FIFA World Cup ticket. That is the big motivation.
“Yet, we have been further incentivised by the monetary rewards. My girls will go all out on Friday night,” Head Coach Bankole Olowookere said.
Olowookere, who led the Flamingos to their last two World Cup ventures, will most likely rely on first-leg two-goal heroine Queen Joseph, lone-goal scorer Zainab Raji and Kaosarat Olanrewaju to start at the fore, with Shakirat Moshood, Muinat Rotimi and Philomena Isaiah supplying the passes from the midfield.
Goalkeeper and captain Christiana Uzoma and defenders Azeezat Oduntan, Hannah Ibrahim, Christiana Sunday and Jumai Adebayo are also likely to start.
The Confederation of African Football has selected Cameroonian official Marie Noelle Etong to be the referee, with her compatriots Marcelle Teikeu and Innocentia Ntangti as assistant referee 1 and fourth official, respectively, while Chadian Ngarassoum Victorine will be assistant referee 2.
Oumou Souleymane Kane from Mauritania will be the commissioner, and Sabelo Maphosa-Sibindi from Zimbabwe will be in the role of referee assessor.
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Former president of the initially 15-member West African Football Union (WAFU), Chief Jonathan Boytie Ogufere, has expressed his heartfelt condolences over the recent death of former national team captain and coach, Christian ‘Chairman’ Chukwu.
He remarked that the erstwhile Enugu Rangers’ defence stalwart will ‘be dearly missed’. In a personally signed letter of condolence, Ogufere described Chukwu, who died on Saturday, April 12, in Enugu after a brief illness at 74, as a ‘hero of our time and a friend’.
The nonagenarian recalled with nostalgia how he nearly recruited the young Chukwu for his P & T Vasco da Gama Football Club of Enugu, adding he was impressed with how the ‘Field Marshal Christian Chukwuemeka ‘Chairman ‘ Chukwu (MFR), conducted himself throughout his career as he led both the national team, the then Green Eagles and his beloved Enugu Rangers to many conquests.
“I join numerous others to mourn the transition of the legendary Christian Chukwu, a hero of our time and friend,” the Ugbugba of Okpe Kingdom wrote.
“As one of the young academicals discovered after the end of the Civil War in 1970, I tried to enlist into my club, the P & T Vasco da Gama Football Club of Enugu but he was fair and frank in informing me that he had already joined Enugu Ranges Football Club, and I respected that attitude. From the rivalries between the two clubs, his exploits as a central defender were very visible.”
He continued: “Christian Chukwu emerged at the national level as a trustworthy and formidable captain of the national team who led by example.
“He was one of the heroes during the Golden age of Nigerian football when I was one of the Board Members of the Nigeria Football Association under the chairmanship of Chief Sunday Dankaro as Nigeria won the Africa Cup of Nations in 1980 for the first time where Christian Chukwu as captain of the Green Eagles was declared the best player of the tournament. He led the national team in several battles, which endeared him to millions of football lovers.
“After his playing days, he showed his talents through coaching in Nigeria and abroad.
“I express my sincere condolences to the family he left behind, the football family and the country in general. He will be dearly missed.
“May the good Lord grant his noble soul eternal rest,” he noted.
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Remo Stars are coasting to what will be their greatest moment ever, a win of the Nigeria Premier Football League title, as they recorded a 1-0 win over Shooting Stars in Ibadan in a match played behind closed doors.
In doing so, they achieved their sixth double of the season, having earlier beaten Shooting Stars in the first stanza of the league.
They maintained the seven-point lead over second-placed Rivers United, who also beat Sunshine Stars 1-0 in Port Harcourt.
After a ding-dong affair, Alex Oyowah scored the vital goal for Remo Stars from a right-wing cross from Ismail Sodiq.
In another match, Ikorodu City continued to work tenaciously to obtain a continental ticket as they held El Kanemi to a 1-1 draw.
SUNDAY RESULTS
- El Kanemi 1-1 Ikorodu City
- Niger Tornados 1-1 Bayelsa United
- Heartland 0-0 Kwara United
- Plateau United 1-0 Akwa United
- Rivers United 1-0 Sunshine Stars
- Shooting Stars 0-1 Remo Stars
- Bendel United 1-1 Nasarawa United
SATURDAY
- Katsina United 0-0 Abia Warriors
- Enyimba 2-1 Kano Pillars
- Lobi Stars 2-4 Enugu Rangers
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