Enyimba Football Club, Aba continued its unexciting results with a disappointing home draw with Plateau United on Saturday, thus brightening the chances of the Jos side for the 2022 league title.
Plateau United head coach Fidelis Ilechukwu insists his side has shown great determination this season after seeing his side hold former champions Enyimba to a 1-1 draw in Aba on Saturday.
The Match Day 18 encounter was a classic example of a game of two halves as the hosts dominated play in the first half during which they got their only goal while Ilechukwu’s wards owned the second half during which they got their equaliser.
After a period of sustained pressure, Enyimba got their noses in front through striker Victor Mbaoma’s exquisite finish; lobbing the ball over on-rushing Plateau goalkeeper Suraj Ayeleso after Austin Oladapo had freed him with a delicate chipped pass.
The visitors fought back in the second half with renewed vigour and almost equalised six minutes after the break but for goalkeeper John Noble who denied Rabiu Zulkifilu’s effort.
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Noble could however do nothing to prevent a leveller in the 71st minute after former Enyimba defender Austine Opara latched onto Haggai Katoh’s pass, flicked it over a marker before volleying home emphatically.
The equaliser pushed the hosts off balance and they never got their feet back on, dropping points in front of a disappointed home fans yet again.
Ilechukwu, now unbeaten in his last three games against the People’s Elephant explains why his team has the longest unbeaten run in the elite division presently.
“Doing this unbeaten run is something the players understand how it works,” begins the former Heartland coach to www.npfl.ng
“We are not defensive in any way. The Nigerian league is open, such that if you prepare your team very well, you can win, draw or lose anywhere.
“So, in every game, every place is like our home. If we lose, we go back and work. You can see what happened today and after the first half, we tried to stop every attack from Enyimba from their right back and left back and hit them on the counter and also possess the ball more than them in the second half.”
Saturday’s result means that Enyimba have won just one out of their last seven games while Plateau United are unbeaten in their last ten matches, a run which has seen them go level on points at the top of the table with Rivers United, both teams with 38 points apiece.
Ilechukwu continued: “Before the season started, we knew what we are about to do. In as much as we try to build the team, we didn’t have the mind that we are going to be where we are today but we just prepared the team for every game.”
The future of his opposite number, Finidi George as head coach of Enyimba is already up for debate as the team stays 8th on the log with a possibility of dropping down further by the time Match Day 18 games are concluded.
Match Details
Enyimba
1. John Noble 32. Bilal Yakubu 2. Emmanuel Ampiah (Johnson Umah 46′) 16. Philip Ozor 5. Oluwatosin Adegbite 18. Paschal Eze 30. Ekene Awazie (Godwin Emmanuel 78′) 26. Austin Oladapo (Fatai Abdullahi 63′) 25. Victor Mbaoma 8. Samuel Stone Onukwube (Cyril Olisema 78′) 14. Samuel Kalu (Sadiq Abubakar 63′)
Subs
12. Olorunleke Ojo 4. Anthony Omaka
13. Sadiq Abubakar 17. Chigozie Obasi
20. Cyril Olisema 24. Fatai Abdullahi 28. Abel James 34. Johnson Umah 38. Godwin Emmanuel
GOAL: Victor Mbaoma 28′
Plateau United
21. Suraj Ayeleso 24. Austine Opara 32. Christopher Waziri 35. Jimmy Ambrose 20. Andrew Ikefe 26. Alex Aghahowa
19. Haggai Katoh 8. Sunday Anthony 7. Reuben Bala (Nenrot Silas 74′) 4. Rabiu Zulkifilu 29. Jesse Akila (Izuchukwu Chimezie 74′)
Subs
22. Abiodun Akande 6. Elisha Golbe
2. Eric Oguocha 1. Charles Henlong 10. Benjamin Turba 16. Nenrot Silas 18. Izuchukwu Chimezie 25. Emmanuel Uchegbu 5. Wasiu Jimoh
Booked: Reuben Bala 61′
Goal: Austine Opara 71′
