Nigerian Football
RED HOT IHEANACHO’S ASSIST, RESCUE LEICESTER FROM 10-MAN SOUTHAMPTON
Great thanks to Kelechi Iheanacho whose pin-point cross was met with a powerful header by Jonny Evans to enable the third-placed side to level up to a 1-1 draw against Southampton.
Leicester missed a chance to cement their grip on third place in the Premier League after a 1-1 draw against 10-man Southampton at St Mary’s on Friday (April 30).
Southampton had to play 80 minutes without Danish defender Jannik Vestergaard after he was sent off for a foul on Jamie Vardy.
But James Ward-Prowse’s second half penalty briefly put Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side ahead before Jonny Evans headed Leicester’s equaliser.
Leicester remain in third place, but fourth placed Chelsea would close the gap to just two points if they beat struggling Fulham on Saturday.
Fourth place will be reduced to a Europa League qualification spot if Chelsea win the Champions League, Arsenal win the Europa League and both clubs finish outside the top four.
So Leicester need to hang onto third place to be sure of qualifying for next season’s Champions League.
Fourth place might still be enough for Brendan Rodgers’ team, but they have only four matches left to guarantee their berth in Europe’s elite club competition.
In an FA Cup semi-final rematch after Leicester’s 1-0 win at Wembley two weeks ago, Southampton gave a better account of themselves to end their three-game losing streak.
Leicester had powered to a top-flight away record 9-0 win against Southampton on their previous visit to St Mary’s in 2019.
But they found it much tougher this time and should have been behind early on when Nathan Tella, unmarked eight yards from goal, shot weakly at Leicester keeper Kasper Schmeichel.
Southampton were reduced to 10 men in the 10th minute after Vestergaard’s slip left Vardy clean through on the edge of the penalty area.
Vestergaard responded to his blunder with a desperate lunging tackle, but although the centre-back made contact with the ball, he clattered into Vardy’s ankle in the process, earning a red card from referee Robert Jones.
Despite their numerical advantage, Leicester struggled to take control and Southampton winger Nathan Redmond threatened with a long-range blast that Schmeichel palmed away.
It took over half an hour for Leicester to carve out a serious chance when Kelechi Iheanacho picked out Youri Tielemans and the Belgian’s low drive forced a fine save from Saints keeper Alex McCarthy at his near post.
Southampton were battling impressively and they took the lead in the 61st minute thanks to a helping hand from Iheanacho.
Stuart Armstrong’s shot thumped into Iheanacho’s out-stretched arm and Jones pointed to the spot, with Ward-Prowse smashing the penalty past Schmeichel for his ninth goal this season.
James Maddison’s long-range curler was tipped over by McCarthy, who made an equally good stop from Ayoze Perez’s rising strike moments later.
Finally hitting their stride, Leicester equalised in the 68th minute as Evans met Iheanacho’s pin-point cross with a powerful header that gave McCarthy no chance.
Vardy, set up by Maddison’s pass, could have won it for Leicester with seven minutes left, but McCarthy made a brilliant save with his legs to repel the close-range effort.
-AFP
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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