NPFL: Finidi George’s Enyimba put two past Sporting Lagos in Aba

Christian Nwoke has featured in every league game for the noisy Lagosians this season and was included in Jose Peseiro’s 40-man provisional AFCON squad list.

NPFL Record Champions, Enyimba F.C. put on a spectacle at home in front of their fans as they defeated the new boys, Sporting Lagos by putting two goals past them, Soccernet.ng reports.

Coach Paul Offor’s Sporting Lagos were winless in four games coming to Aba, as they faced an in-form Enyimba who haven’t lost any of their last five.

An irony in the trajectory of the form of both teams, the teams needed a win for very different reasons. Enyimba to climb the table in re-igniting their title charge, and Sporting, to move further away from the relegation spots.

Christian Nwoke missed the game, giving Nathaniel Asibe his first start of the season, and the Sporting backline didn’t feel Nwoke’s absence as Nathaniel made vital saves to keep the scores level for the first twenty minutes.

A foul in the box gave the host a chance to break the deadlock and Ekwutoziam Eze wasted no time in scoring the resulting spot-kick. He’d come close a few minutes later but was denied by the crossbar.

The second half started with mazy runs from Sporting’s attackers, but the Enyimba defence was equal to the task and with a minute to spare on the clock, the hosts doubled their lead.

A delightful exchange of passes between the Elephants players made way for Chibuike Nwaiwu to send Akanni Elijah through on goal, and he wasted no time in converting the chance.

FT’| Dropped points in Aba. Back to the drawing board ✍🏾

Enyimba 🐘|2-0| Sporting Lagos 🟡#NPFL24 #SportingAway pic.twitter.com/2qvugVl9Du

— Sporting Lagos (@SportingLagos) January 7, 2024

Finidi Goerge’s men are now third on the league table, three points behind League leaders Remo Stars, with an added advantage of two games to spare.

For Sporting and Coach Paul Offor, they find themselves in tumultuous waters, as they’re now in the relegation spots, in the 18th position, just three points above the team at the bottom of the table.