Nigerian Football
Rivers United’ Emeka Ogbuh is 2nd Time VAT Goal Winner
Rivers United’s Emeka Ogbuh has become the first player to win the VAT Wonder Goal award twice over two seasons after he emerged with the highest votes for the Match Day 31 shortlisted goals.
Ogbuh’s goal against Wikki Tourists in added time of the fixture polled a total of 2,843 votes to beat Abayomi Adebayo of Shooting Stars to second place.
It was a close race between the two but FC IfeanyiUbah’s Isaac Loute earned the highest vote from the voters on twitter with 112 of the 311 votes. Ogbuh polled 106 while Abayomi polled 71 leaving the rest 22 votes for Destiny Ashadi of Katsina United.
In the website voting where a total of 5419 fans voted, Ogbuh polled 2,737 ahead of Abayomi who picked 2,336 votes to bring his combined total to 2,407.
Ogbugh, while playing for Heartland FC of Owerri last season had won the Wonder Goal award but switched to Rivers United after the Owerri side was relegated.
Guy Kuemian Venance opened scoring for the hosts after 10 minutes and in added time of the first half of the match against Wikki Tourists; Ogbuh received a lob from the right flank at the edge of the box, controlled with his chest and fired a riser that sailed in for the second of their 3-0 win.
He became the 12th player this season to win the award which attracts a cash prize of N150, 000 half of which will be donated to a Charity he will nominate from within the state.
He also joins team mate, Ayo Saka who won the award on Match Day 20. It also made Rivers United the second club to have two players winning the award this season after Remo Stars that has had Ochowechi Salefu and Victor Chidume.
The VAT Wonder Goal award is a community investment initiative of the League Management Company (LMC) to promote club and community engagement. It is supported by the Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS) which seeks to promote tax education on the platform of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL).
Votes are cast by fans for shortlisted players on the NPFL website, www.npfl.ng and the twitter handle, @lmcnpfl.
Enugu Rangers on Sunday beat Plateau United 2-0 to hold on at the top of the Nigeria Premier League. They extended their point haul to 57, two points ahead of their Oriental brothers, Enyimba who also beat Katsina United 1-0 to keep the chase for the title very hot.
Initial second placed team, Remo Stars dropped to the third position but still in contention for either the title, but at worse a continental ticket for next season.
Following Shooting Stars 2-0 defeat of Sunshine Stars in a South West derby, the top four positions of the are now held by the South East and South West as the league gets into its closing stage.
While Rangers and Enyimba are first and second at the moment, Remo Stars, though with an outstanding home game are third while their fellow westerners, Shooting Stars are fourth.
The weekend’s results:
Rivers United 2-0 Katsina United
Remo Stars 3-0 Niger Tornadoes
Doma United 0-0 Kwara United
Bendel Insurance 1-0 Heartland
Enugu Rangers 2-0 Plateau United
Shooting Stars 2-0 Sunshine Stars
Akwa United 3-0 Kano Pillars
Enyimba 1-0 Katsina United
Gombe United 3-2 Lobi Stars
Sporting Lagos 4-2 Abia Warriors
Remo Stars on Friday inch closer to achieving their first ever title in the Nigeria elite division league after beating visiting Niger Tornadoes 3-0 to move second on the log and just a point behind league leaders, Enugu Rangers.
Remo Stars are now with 53 points and still have an outstanding home game to play.
Friday’s win which comes on the eve of the proprietor’s birthday has put the team back into contention for the title.
They have progressively become prominent in the Nigerian premier league having placed third two seasons ago and second last season.
Top finish this season will confirm their progression and also a third consecutive continental outing.
Top scorer, Sikiru Alimi launched them of victory path as his 28th minute penalty kick heralded their return to high scoring ways.
It has been a while since they scored high in the league. Barely three minutes later, Sikiru, a contender for the top scorer award increased the tally to two.
Ahmed Akinyele completed the route in the 75th minute.
Nigerian Football
Nigeria face tough defence as Burkina Faso lie in wait at U17 WAFU B AFCON qualifiers
Defending champions Nigeria have been handed a difficult path to the 2025 U17 Africa Cup of Nations finals after being drawn in the same group as Burkina Faso for next month’s WAFU B qualifying tournament in Ghana.
The Golden Eaglets, who won the last edition of the regional championship in 2022, will also face Togo and Niger in Group B of the competition which runs from 15-28 May.
Hosts Ghana find themselves in Group A alongside Cote d’Ivoire and Benin in a tough-looking section of the competition to be played in Accra.
The draw was conducted by 1970s Ivorian football legends Kobenan Kouman and Die Foneye at the Ivorian FA headquarters in Abidjan on Friday.
Nigeria claimed their WAFU B U17 AFCON title by defeating Burkina Faso 2-1 in the regional final in Ghana two years ago.
However, they will need to overcome some familiar foes if they are to defend their crown and with the Burkina Faso finishing third at the last TotalEnergies U17 Africa Cup of Nations, some exciting matches are expected.
Arch-rivals Nigeria and Ghana are among the two favourites and could meet in the final in Accra on 28 May, should they top their respective groups and make it through the semi-finals.
Ghana also have pedigree at this level, having the World Cup in 1991 and 1995 as they bid to reach the U17 AFCON finals on home soil.
The top two teams from the WAFU B tournament will qualify for next year’s U17 Africa Cup of Nations.
Groups:
Group A: Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Benin
Group B: Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Togo, Niger.
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