Enugu Rangers reclaimed the third position on the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) table after a hard fought 1-0 win over Dakkada in one of the MatchDay 29 fixtures played in Awka on Saturday.
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A glancing header from last season’s club top scorer, Christian Nnaji, off a corner-kick by Eso Achibong on 65 minutes gave the visitor’s goalkeeper, Loveday Anugbuo no chance at all in what turned out to be the only goal of the encounter.
The win was such a huge relief for the Rangers Coach, Abdul Maikaba who admitted after the match that his side was stretched to the limits to snatch the three points.
“It was a good and tough match considering the position of our opponent and our own set target for the season. The win was difficult but my players kept on pushing even when our opponent showed enough determination to stop most of our moves”, Maikaba was quoted to have told the club’s Media.
“I thank God that at the end of the match, we have our three points which means a lot for us as we continue to work towards achieving our set target”, he added.
In the match, Rangers were the quickest off the block after Referee Habibu Ghali signaled the start of hostilities and would have been a goal up as early as the second minute but for the alertness of the visitor’s keeper who did well to beat out an Eso Achibong well-drilled free-kick from the edge of the box.
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More missed opportunities were to follow on 4, 16, and 29 minutes for top-scorer, Ossy Martins as the goalkeeper for the visitors continued to pull saves to deny the hosts on the three occasions while he watched askance when Eso’s free kick on 42 minutes hit the crossbar and bounced off to safety.
The visitors, in one of their rare forays upfront towards the end of the first half, was presented with an opportunity at goal but was thwarted by Rangers Ghanaian keeper, Nana Bonsu.
Approaching the 60 minute, Maikaba introduced the duo of Chidiebere Nwobodo and Christian Nnaji for Chukwuebuka Okorie and Elijah Ani and the visitors were further pushed back. It was in one of the continued pressure that saw Nwobodo outwitting three opponents but his cross was blocked for a corner-kick. Eso would deliver a perfect cross from the resultant corner-kick that was nodded in by Nnaji.
With the win, Rangers moved to the third place on the log with 48 points from 29 matches and will next play away to second-placed, Plateau United in a MatchDay 30 fixture slated for the New Jos Stadium, Jos on Sunday, May 29, 2022.
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