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Nigerian Football

Remo Stars and Enyimba’s massive wins headline NPFL home stretch

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As the Nigeria Premier Football League gets into the home stretch, the matchday 17 produced dramatic scores.

Group A has almost turned into a four-horse race as the trio of  Enyimba,  Remo Stars and Akwa United step up the chase of group leaders, Bendel Insurance.

The four teams are separated by the odd point. Remo Stars in Jos dramatically recovered from a 70th minute by Saidu Salisu to shock Plateau United,  the home side with a 2-1 defeat.

Both teams are part of the contenders for the top three position. Barely nine minutes after the goal, Remo Stars levelled up through Adams Olalekan in a fiercely contested encounter.

Two minutes to regulation time, Remo Stars’ Olalekan Adebayo sealed an important win for his team to remain in the third position.

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But the biggest win of the day is by Enyimba who like the massive elephant trampled on hapless Gombe United with a 5-0 defeat.  

Another massive win was by Wikki Tourists who beat Abia Warriors 4-0 in Bauchi.

In Benin, Bendel Insurance continued their unbeaten run in the season, though they were held to a 1-1 draw by Shooting Stars of Ibadan.

After a goalless first half, Ismael Sarki put Bendel Insurance ahead in the 62nd minute. While it was looking as if they might end the game with full points, Sikiru Alimi levelled up in the 85th minute.

Ibrahim Yahaya scored  the only goal of the game in  Kwara United’s 1-0 win over Nasarawa United at the Akure Township stadium.

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In a South South derby, Rivers United beat visiting Bayelsa United 2-1 in Port Harcourt. In Uyo, Akwa United beat El Kanemi 2-0

 In Minna,Sunshines stars beat home side, Niger Tornadoes 2-0. .

All the  Results

Group A

  • Plateau United 1-2 Remo Stars
  • Bendel Insurance 1-1 Shooting Stars
  • Kwara United 1-0 Nasarawa United
  • Enyimba 5-0 Gombe United
  • Akwa United 2-0 El-Kanemi

Group A

  • Dakkada FC 1-1 Lobi Stars
  • Rivers United 2-1 Bayelsa United
  • Wikki Tourists 4-0 Abia Warriors
  • Doma United 2-0 Rangers
  • Niger Tornadoes 0-2 Sunshine Stars

Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

Nigerian Football

Season’s first win for Akwa United and Ikorodu City

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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.

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Nigerian Football

Behold! Nigeria Football’s October 8 Magic

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Nigeria’s Godwin Iwelumo terrorising Egypt’s goalmouth 47 years ago in an October 8 match. Nigeria won 4-0 inflicting the worst ever defeat on Egypt in a World Cup qualifier.

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.

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 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!

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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.
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Nigerian Football

 Rivers flow to the top!

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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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