Nigerian Football
Winning run continues for Bendel Insurance
Excitement appears to have returned to the Nigerian lead football league with the spate of away wins which has made the league results very unpredictable.
In the previous seasons, away wins are a rarity. As the new season gets to match day 3, one common trend is the rate at which teams performed away from their home grounds.
It may also be an indication of fair officiating and the diminishing trend of ‘win-at-cost syndrom.
Of the eight matches played this weekend, three recorded away victories while away teams also had two drawn games.
Only two matches are outstanding as Rivers United will host Niger Tornadoes on Tuesday and Remo Stars hosting Shooting Stars on Wednesday.
The most consistent team so far have been Bendel Insurance who continue the winning streak they started with since the league opener in Uyo.
On Sunday, they beat Kwara United in their exiled home in Ibadan. Great thanks to Imade Osehenkhoe who scored in the 25th minute. It was his added time goal that enabled Bendel to beat Plateau United last weekend in Benin.
With the win, Bendel Insurance tenacioulsly hold on to the top position in Group A, but their main rivals, Remo Stars the model football club still has an home game at hand.
In another Group A match, Akwa United appeared to have woken up from slumber, notching their first win and incidentally away from home as they beat Nasarawa United 3-0.
It is a steady improvement as they had lost their first match at home to Bendel Insurance and drew 0-0 with Enyimba in match day 2 before their current soul-lifting away performance.
James Ajako put Akwa United ahead in the 43rd minute before Ndifreke Udo Effiong double the lead early in the second half. He added the third goal in the 77th minute to confirm Nasaraw United’s third consecutive defeat in the league.
El Kanemi Warriors and Gombe United played a barren draw in the weekend’s only match that produced no goal. In Group B, Bayelsa United beat Wikki Tourists 2-1.
Robert Mizo had a brace for the home team while Mohammed Guda pulled a goal back from the penalty spot in the fifth minute of added time.
Doma United beat Dakkada 1-0 to improve on their standing. Last season’s runners up, Plateau United recorded their first victory this season, beating Enyimba 2-1.
Enyimba shot ahead in the 24th minute through Chibuike Nwaiwu before goals from Onyebuchi Ifeanyi in the 36th minute and and added time rescued the game for the home side.
In another Group B match, Lobi Stars truncated Abia Warriors’ winning streak win an away win in Aba. The lone goal was scored by Kumaga in the Suur in the 55th minute while Enugu Rangers and Sunshine Stars of Akure played out a 1-1 draw in Awka which is Rangers’ first point this season.
The Results:
- Bayelsa United 2-1 Wikki Tourists
- Doma United 1-0 Dakkada
- Kwara United 0-1 Bendel Insurance
- El Kanemi 0-0 Gombe United
- Plateau Utd 2-1 Enyimba
- Abia Wariors 0-1 Lobi Stars
- Enugu Rangers 1-1 Sunshine Stars
Outstanding matches
- Rivers United v Niger Tornadoes – Tuesday
- Remo Stars vs Shooting Stars – Wednesday
The miserable run of Akwa United and Ikorodu City came to an end after six games in the Nigerian Premier League this season. Both teams were initially glued at the bottom of the league table.
They now got respite as Akwa United beat Kano Pillar by 2-0 while Ikorodu City even did what could be considered an upset, beating Bendel Insurance 3-0.
Remo Stars bounced back to the top of the log after a 3-0 defeat of Nasarawa United. Shooting Stars are yet to get their rhythm this season, playing a barren draw with Enyimba in Ibadan.
Kwara United who got their first full points of the season last week after a 1-0 defeat of Remo Stars could not consolidate as they were beaten 1-0 by Abia Warriors.
Heartland under Emmanuel Amuneke are gradually recovering as they got a valuable away draw against El-Kanemi Warriors.
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
It is 75 years since Nigeria’s national football team first played an international match. That was on 8 October 1949 when the first set of Nigeria’s assembly on their return voyage stopped over in Freetown and engaged Sierra Leone in an international football match. Nigeria won 2-0, setting a chain of positive results on 8 October.
The country never lost any competitive duel on that date. More significantly, the Super Eagles first qualified for the World Cup on an 8 October date.
That was in 1993 when they were held to a 1-1 draw by Algeria in the quest for USA ‘94 World Cup.
Nigeria became the first English-speaking African country to qualify for the World Cup. Another significance of the October 8 match at the July 5 Stadium, Algiers is that Nigeria were unbeaten for the first time by Algeria at home.
The only deviation from the 8 October Magic was in 2015 when Nigeria lost 2-0 to Congo in a friendly match.
Twenty-six years after Nigeria’s debut international match, one of Africa’s biggest football nations, Egypt fell to the October 8 magic, losing 4-0 to Nigeria in the last stage of the triangular World Cup qualifying series for Argentina ’78.
Up till October 15, 2013, when Ghana beat Egypt 6-1 in Kumasi, the October 8, 1977 duel with Nigeria remained Egypt’s biggest loss in a World Cup qualifying match.
Before the 1977 duel, Nigeria in 1963 played a friendly match with Liberia in Monrovia. The October 8 magic was active, even in an away match. Nigeria drew 2-2 in their very first encounter with Liberia. It was shortly after the team had, through a protest, upturned a victory by Guinea to pick Nigeria’s very first African Nations’ Cup ticket.
Little wonder then that when FIFA suspended Nigeria in 2010, the world governing body provisionally lifted the ban on October 8!
Nigeria on 8 October
- 1949 – Freetown (Friendly) Sierra Leone 0-2 Nigeria
- 1963 – Monrovia (Friendly) Liberia 2-2 Nigeria
- 1977 – Lagos (World Cup qualifier) Nigeria 4-0 Egypt
- 1993 – Algiers (World Cup qualifier) Algeria 1-1 Nigeria… qualify for USA ‘94.
- 2005 – Abuja (World Cup qualifier) Nigeria 5-1 Zimbabwe
- 2010 – FIFA, in apparent respect to the 8 October magic, provisionally lifted a ban imposed on Nigeria.
- 2011 – Abuja (African Nations Cup qualifier) Nigeria 2-2 Guinea. Although undefeated, Nigeria failed to make it to the 2012 African Nations Cup.
- 2015 – D.R. Congo beat Nigeria 2-0 in Visé, Belgium. The ‘October 8 Magic’ is finally broken.
Rivers United have launched themselves to the top of the log at the end of the match day 5 of the Nigeria Premier League. The Port Harcourt side beat Akwa United 2-1 to go afloat after initial leaders, Remo Stars crumbled to a 1-0 defeat at Kwara United in Ilorin on Sunday.
It was Remo Stars’ first defeat in the season. Rivers United are now with 13 points. Stephen Mayo put Rivers United ahead after 31 minutes. But it turned a temporary lead as Akwa United bounced back almost at the blast of the referee’s whistle for the second half.
Friday Apollos levelled up for Akwa United before Ndifreke Effiong Udo scored the winner in the 85th minute.
Sunday Results
- Kwara United 1-0 Remo Stars
- Rangers International 1-0 Abia Warriors
- Heartland FC 2-0 Niger Tornadoes
- Kano Pillars 2-0 Sunshine Stars
- Plateau United 1-0 Ikorodu City
- Rivers United 2-1 Akwa United
- Enyimba 3-0 Katsina United* Suspended
- Nasarawa 0-0 Bayelsa United
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