By Eche Amos, Media Officer, Nasarawa United FC
Nasarawa United FC intensified their title ambition with a 3-1 hammering of visiting Jigawa Golden Stars on Monday afternoon in the Nigeria Professional Football League matchday 31 clash at the Lafia City Stadium.
Originally billed for Sunday, 4th July, the game was shifted to Monday by the league organizers, and it took the Solid Miners only nineteen minutes to open their goals account.
Silas Nwankwo tapped in from close range after the visitors’ goalkeeper, Sochima Victor, lost grip of Chigozie Obasi’s cracking freekick from 35 yards to put the home side on the driver’s seat.
Twelve minutes later, the menacing attacker would increase the tally for United, as he benefitted from Adamu Hassan’s cheeky pass, his thirteenth goal of the campaign.
The hosts’ goalkeeper, Mohammed Galadima, was called into a difficult save in the 57th minute after Emeka Onyema deflected Faisal Ahmad’s low shot.
Adamu Hassan who assisted United’s second goal registered his name on the scoresheet with a left-footed shot off Michael Tochukwu’s defence-splitting pass to give Nasarawa United a 3-0 cushion, his sixth goal of the season.
However, some poor defending saw the Governor Badaru Boys awarded a penalty, and Samuel Stone stepped up to score the consolation in the 86th minute.
3-1 the game ended with Silas Nwankwo winning the Infinix Mobiles’ Man-of-the-match award, the second recipient of the award after Chigozie Obasi since the organisation struck the partnership deal with the Lafia-based side as the Solid Miners return to the second position on the league table with 55 points, two points behind table-topping Akwa United who have 57 points.
Nasarawa United will travel to Enugu to play Bendel Insurance FC in the Aiteo Federation Cup, formerly known as the FA Cup, slated for Thursday, 8th July, before moving to Nnewi, Anambra State, to keep a date with FC Ifeanyi Ubah in the NPFL matchday 32 fixture on Sunday, 11th July, 2021.
POST-MATCH REACTIONS:
Coach Bala Nikyu(NAS): “The league is getting to an end, and whether it’s home or away, you can’t predict what will happen, but if you get it right, then you have to thank God.
“This victory is a good one, and this has returned us to the second position on the league table, and we will continue to fight from there.
“As for my assessment of Jigawa Golden Stars, they played an interesting game, perhaps because they have younger players.
“They made the game flow which is ok.
“We will continue to work hard and pray more to win the league.”
Coach Gilbert Opana(JIG): “For every match and for every team, you want a better result.
“It’s been good with Nasarawa United, especially in this second round of the league, so we expected the kind of game that we had.
“I think it’s exciting for those who saw it.
“My wards were a bit lazy at the defence in the first half and we got punished for it.
“However, our goal is to escape relegation at the end of the season.”
Silas Nwankwo(NAS/MVP): “I feel very great.
“I want to most sincerely thank my coaches and teammates for their push.
“We thought we could score more goals against them, but the scoreline is still ok.”
