Enyimba International Football Club of Aba on Wednesday thrashed visiting Kano Pillars 5-0 in a Match Day 28 fixture of the ongoing 2023/2024 Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL).
In the match played at the Enyimba Stadium, Eze Ekwutoziam put the home team ahead in the 14th minute, after the visiting team’s goalkeeper had parried Joseph Atule’s shot into his way.
Enyimba made it 2-0 through Chijioke Mbaoma who utilised a pass from Ekwutoziam who beat two Kano Pillars defenders.
Atule made it 3-0 with a powerful header to a pass from Ekene Awaziem in the 44th minute.
In the 69th minute, Atule made it a brace for himself to make it 4-0 after dribbling past two defenders.
Alade Balogun rose from the bench to make it 5-0 in the 90th minute following a pass from Chibueze Izuogu.
In a post-match interview, Enyimba’s coach Finidi George said he wished his team could continue to get that sort of result in their subsequent matches.
“I think the tempo of the match dropped in the second half because of the scoreline, but we picked up in the last part of the match. Generally it was a good outing.
“I am happy for the victory because it is never easy playing against Kano Pillars. I think we dominated the game from the beginning to the end.
“We just have to focus on getting good results away from home,” he said.
George expressed happiness with Atule’s scoring efforts in recent weeks in the league, saying he was beginning to see the Atule the club bought to help in converting scoring chances.
“We are going to meet Lobi Stars in our next match and hope to get a respectable result. We are out to battle any team to a standstill in he remaining matches of the league,” he said.
On his part, Kano Pillars’ coach Abdul Maikaba described the match as a difficult one, saying that travel arrangements affected his team’s performance.
He said that his team arrived Aba early in the morning on match day.
“It is a difficult experience as we arrived Aba by 2 a.m. So, I am not surprised that the players could not cope with the tempo of the game.
“I believe that the vacant position of a State Commissioner for Youths and Sports affected our arrangements, and I hope the state government will appoint one soon.
“As for the league position, we do not have much time, it is good the team is already in a good position and it is not late for us to get a position to give us a ticket to play on the continent,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that with the win, Enyimba are now second on the table with 48 points while Kano Pillars remain seventh with 41 points after 28 matches.(NAN)