It is no longer news that Kwara United started badly in the opening season of the 2018 Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL), which saw them losing their first three games.
The team however woke up in week four fixtures against the on-form Makurdi side, Lobi Stars FC, a match that most soccer pundits didn’t give the Coach John Obuh men chance of proving any point, but the Harmony boys eventually surprised the doubting-Thomas by coming out victorious in the game
The Harmony Warriors struck in the ninth minute through Stephen Afred to leapfrog Heartland at the foot of the league table and earned their first victory in the league.
Even though the team has never pick any away point but they have maintained their home winning streak, beating Wkki Tourist of Bauchi, as well as Katsina United.
Kwara United’s match against the Chanji Boys was full of action, anxiety and tension, which could have resulted to havoc at the end of 90th minute.
United fought hard to get the three maximum points in the game against a sound Katsina side who almost cancelled the two goals scored by the home team in the second of the keenly contested match.
The actions and reactions at the Ilorin Township Stadium of Match Day 8 between two teams were philosophical when it was goalless in first half, but when the home team was two goals up within 15th minute in second half, the fans begin to sing the praise to God.
The very thought of losing first home match is hateful to the supporters and for a remarkable number of people who have emotional stake in sports, most especially football (Kwara United), losing is more hateful than wining is joyful, the agony of the first home defeat outweighs the thrill of Katsina victory.
I must sincerely commend the incredible bravery of Aliyu Yakubu, a fearless maker, explosive attacking midfielder who can change the game with a turn of pace or dribble. Despite being diminutive, with courage he takes ball to the physically imposing Chanji Boys defense.
The team as a whole played above mediocrity, but there is room for improvement.
Kudos to Coach Abdul Usman Biffo, the gaffer of Chanji Boys for showcasing beautiful football, which makes the fans and supporters of the home team to applaud them throughout the game.
Speaking after the match, Kwara United goalkeeper, Chidiebere Eze says their latest home win could be credited to the technical crew.
“It was a good win for us. The victory relieved tension in the camp. The pressure we had before the game was much but the victory has calmed us down. The players and coaches were under pressure to perform because of our bad start in the season. Another unimpressive home game would have worsened everything,” Eze said.
“We had our game plan and we stuck to it. We know that Katsina have good players and that they will match us in all direction if we fail to act early in the game. It was the reason why we went after it immediately the game started.
“We were fortunate to get our hearts’ desire and we after then tried to consolidate on it. The second half was very difficult because they came out fighting thinking that they could get the equalizer.
“It was nice having smiles back on our faces. Even though we didn’t engage in wild celebration, we were happy that we have put a halt to our losses,” he stated.
Kwara United are 17th in the league table with nine points from eight topflight ties.
NPFL Statistics
1. Sunday’s game against IfeanyiUbah would be Ramson Madu’s 50th game in charge of the team
2. Niger Tornadoes have lost their last five #NPFL games, their longest ever run of consecutive top flight defeats.
3. Sunshine Stars have just suffered their heaviest ever league defeat in this millennium.
4. Abia Warriors have failed to win their last three Oriental Derbies (1D 2L), their last win came against Rangers Int’l.
5. No team has scored more league goals than Akwa United since Abdul Maikaba’s appointment as head coach.
6. MFM FC in their last 15 away matches in the #NPFL – LLLLLLLLWLLLLLL. Nervy #PILABI Check.
7. No team has successfully turned around a first half deficit in this #NPFL season.
8. Rangers Int’l have failed to win the first half of their last five home #NPFL matches (5P 0W 4D 1L).
9. Rangers Int’l have won all of their last three #NPFL games contested on a Thursday.
10. Nasarawa United have failed to score in their last six away #NPFL matches, they have never gone longer than six since the appointment of Kabiru Dogo in July 2015.
11. Nigeria has won four of their last five matches against Sudan in all competitions.
12. Katsina United have now gone 18 consecutive away games without a clean sheet.
13. Enyimba have failed to score in only two of their previous 8 meetings against Abia Warriors in the #NPFL.
14. Since the departure of Stephen Odey, MFM FC has just scored 2+ goals in consecutive home games for the first time.
15. Kano Pillars’ Junior Lokosa has scored six goals in his last six #NPFL games, more than in his previous 15 appearances combined (5).
16. Akwa United are the first team to score 10+ goals in this #NPFL season.
17. Plateau United have won once in their last six #NPFL matches against Kano Pillars.
18. Since the start of 2014-15 season, there has been 80% conversion rate of penalty kicks awarded to home teams when they are trailing, or tied in final 10 minutes in the #NPFL.
Match Day 8 Analyses
6 ATTEMPS 6
3 ON TARGETS 1
2 GOALS 1
15 FOULS 14
5 FREEKICKS 4
2 CORNERS 7
1 OFFSIDES 3
0 PENALTY 0
1 YELLOW 3
0 RED CARDS 0
3 SUB 3
Goals: Emeka Godwin 48′ assisted by Stephen Alfred.
Stephen Alfred 60′ assisted by Emeka Godwin.
SERIE A
Udinese v Roma
Chievo v Cagliari
Genoa v Inter
Torino v Juventus
Benevento v Crotone
Bologna v Sassuolo
Napoli v SPAL
Atalanta v Fiorentina
Milan v Sampdoria
Lazio v Hellas Verona
BUNDESLIGA
Hertha v Mainz
Freiburg v Werder
Köln v Hannover
Hamburger v Leverkusen
Wolfsburg v Bayern
Schalke v Hoffenheim
Augsburg v Stuttgart
M’gladbach v Dortmund
Frankfurt v RB Leipzig
LA-LIGA
Girona v Leganés
Las Palmas v Sevilla
Eibar v Barcelona
Alavés v Deportivo
Málaga v Valencia
Sociedad v Levante
Atlético v Athletic
Espanyol v Villarreal
Real Betis v Real Madrid
Getafe v Celta de Vigo
LIGUE I
Monaco v Dijon
PSG v Strasbourg
Caen v Rennes
Montpellier v Guingamp
Angers v Saint-Étienne
Amiens v Toulouse
Troyes v Metz
Nice v Nantes
Lille v Lyon
Marseille v Bordeaux
Nigeria Professional Football League
Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Akwa Utd 7 5 1 1 14 3 11 16
2 Plateau Utd 7 5 0 2 12 3 9 15
3 Kano Pillars 7 4 2 1 11 5 6 14
4 Lobi Stars 7 4 1 2 8 5 3 13
5 Sunshine 7 3 2 2 5 8 -3 11
6 Katsina Utd 7 3 1 3 10 6 4 10
7 Heartland 7 2 4 1 6 4 2 10
8 Enyimba 7 2 4 1 4 4 0 10
9 Rangers 7 3 1 3 5 6 -1 10
10 Yobe Desert 7 3 1 3 6 8 -2 10
11 Rivers Utd 7 3 1 3 5 7 -2 10
12 Nasarawa 7 3 0 4 8 7 1 9
13 MFM FC 7 3 0 4 6 10 -4 9
14 Wikki 7 3 0 4 4 9 -5 9
15 Abia W. 7 2 2 3 4 4 0 8
16 El-Kanemi 7 2 2 3 4 6 -2 8
17 IfeanyiUbah 7 2 1 4 7 8 -1 7
18 Go Round 7 2 1 4 4 8 -4 7
19 Tornadoes 7 2 0 5 7 11 -4 6
20 Kwara Utd 7 2 0 5 2 10 -8 6
La Liga
Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Barcelona 23 18 5 0 60 11 49 59
2 Atlético 23 15 7 1 34 9 25 52
3 Valencia 23 13 4 6 45 27 18 43
4 Real Madrid 22 12 6 4 50 23 27 42
5 Villarreal 23 11 4 8 34 28 6 37
6 Sevilla 23 11 3 9 29 34 -5 36
7 Eibar 23 10 5 8 32 34 -2 35
8 Real Betis 23 10 3 10 38 45 -7 33
9 Celta Vigo 23 9 5 9 41 34 7 32
10 Girona 23 8 7 8 31 30 1 31
11 Getafe 23 7 9 7 26 21 5 30
12 Leganés 22 8 5 9 20 22 -2 29
13 Athletic 23 6 10 7 24 25 -1 28
14 Sociedad 23 7 5 11 43 45 -2 26
15 Espanyol 23 6 8 9 21 31 -10 26
16 Alavés 23 8 1 14 21 33 -12 25
17 Levante 23 3 11 9 21 35 -14 20
18 Las Palmas 23 5 3 15 17 50 -33 18
19 Deportivo 23 4 5 14 24 52 -28 17
20 Málaga 23 3 4 16 14 36 -22 13
Ligue I
Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 PSG 25 21 2 2 76 17 59 65
2 Monaco 25 16 5 4 60 26 34 53
3 Marseille 25 15 7 3 55 29 26 52
4 Lyon 25 14 6 5 54 30 24 48
5 Nantes 25 11 5 9 26 26 0 38
6 Montpellier 25 9 10 6 23 20 3 37
7 Bordeaux 25 10 5 10 32 34 -2 35
8 Rennes 25 10 4 11 30 33 -3 34
9 Nice 25 10 4 11 31 37 -6 34
10 Guingamp 25 9 6 10 25 32 -7 33
11 Caen 25 9 4 12 18 28 -10 31
12 Dijon 24 9 4 11 36 48 -12 31
13 Strasbourg 25 8 6 11 30 42 -12 30
14 St-Étienne 25 8 6 11 26 40 -14 30
15 Toulouse 25 7 5 13 22 33 -11 26
16 Lille 25 7 5 13 23 39 -16 26
17 Amiens 25 7 4 14 22 30 -8 25
18 Angers 25 5 10 10 27 38 -11 25
19 Troyes 24 7 3 14 23 34 -11 24
20 Metz 25 5 3 17 23 46 -23 18
Premier League
Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Man City 27 23 3 1 79 20 59 72
2 Man Utd 27 17 5 5 51 19 32 56
3 Liverpool 27 15 9 3 61 31 30 54
4 Chelsea 27 16 5 6 49 23 26 53
5 Tottenham 27 15 7 5 52 24 28 52
6 Arsenal 27 13 6 8 51 36 15 45
7 Burnley 27 9 9 9 21 24 -3 36
8 Leicester 27 9 8 10 39 40 -1 35
9 Everton 27 9 7 11 32 46 -14 34
10 Bo’mouth 27 8 7 12 31 41 -10 31
11 Watford 27 8 6 13 37 47 -10 30
12 West Ham 27 7 9 11 34 46 -12 30
13 Newcastle 27 7 7 13 25 36 -11 28
14 Brighton 27 6 10 11 22 36 -14 28
15 C/Palace 27 6 9 12 25 42 -17 27
16 Swansea 27 7 6 14 20 37 -17 27
17 Hud’sfield 27 7 6 14 23 47 -24 27
18 S’Ampton 27 5 11 11 28 40 -12 26
19 Stoke City 27 6 7 14 27 53 -26 25
20 West Brom 27 3 11 13 21 40 -19 20
Bundesliga
Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Bayern 22 18 2 2 53 17 36 56
2 Leipzig 22 11 5 6 35 29 6 38
3 Dortmund 22 10 7 5 47 29 18 37
4 Frankfurt 22 10 6 6 30 25 5 36
5 Leverkusen 22 9 8 5 41 29 12 35
6 Schalke 22 9 7 6 34 29 5 34
7 Augsburg 22 8 7 7 32 28 4 31
8 Hoffenheim 22 8 7 7 36 35 1 31
9 Hannover 22 8 7 7 31 32 -1 31
10 M’gladbach 22 9 4 9 30 34 -4 31
11 Hertha 22 7 9 6 30 28 2 30
12 Freiburg 22 5 10 7 23 37 -14 25
13 Wolfsburg 22 4 12 6 25 28 -3 24
14 Stuttgart 22 7 3 12 18 27 -9 24
15 Bremen 22 5 8 9 21 27 -6 23
16 Mainz 22 5 5 12 26 41 -15 20
17 Hamburger 22 4 5 13 17 32 -15 17
18 Köln 22 3 4 15 19 41 -22 13
NPFL Fixtures
Lobi Stars v Akwa United
Heartland v Wikki
Katsina Utd v IfeanyiUba
Kwara Utd v Nasarawa
Rivers Utd v Tornadoes
Abia Warrior v Yobe Stars
El-Kanemi v Go Round
Plateau Utd v Rangers
Kano Pillars v Enyimba
Sunshine v MFM FC
