Farouk Mohammed’s 87th minute goal handed Enyimba a hard-fought victory against Nasarawa United in a thrilling NPFL game in Aba. It was Ortega’s first game in charge of Enyimba as interim head coach after Finidi left for Texas with the Super Eagles
The game began with both sides showing finesse and the game soon became physical early in the game but referee, Joseph Ogabor brought the game under his control as he let both sides know he had zero tolerance for theatrics.
Samuel Kalu got the first real chance of the game in the 8th minute when he rose highest in Nasarawa United’s box to connect Yabuku Bilal’s cross and the winger nodded wide off Ameh’s net
Nasarawa United matched Enyimba strength to strength and King Osanga came close to hitting his target after a quick move from the Solid Miners but his effort went inches wide off Djeri’s net and two minutes later, Sunday Okereke forced a save from Djeri after he beat Nabil Yarou with pace
The fans were treated to thrilling football spectacle and Samuel Kalu forced a save from Ameh in the 17th minute when he shot on goal after receiving a pass from Olisema but Ameh dived to tip his effort off for a corner kick and Ameh was called to make another big save in the 21st minute when he saved Emeka Obioma’s header after the striker connected Sadiq Aboubakar’s cross as the People’s Elephants went in search of an opener
Emeka Obioma missed a chance to put Enyimba ahead in the 27th minute when Ameh spilled Bilal’s cross but the striker was unaware of the lose ball and Ameh quickly took back the ball
Samuel Stone got the opener for Enyimba in the 44th minute when he pounced on a rebound after Ameh failed to deal decisively with Emeka Obioma’s shot
Ortega brought in Oladapo to have more midfielders and the captain shot over the bar in the 47th minute after receiving a dropped ball from Obioma
Nasarawa United’s persistence was rewarded in the 49th minute when Sunday Okereke scored after Bassa Djeri miscalculated King Osanga’s freekick and the striker was readily available to score
Pascal Eze came close to giving Enyimba the lead in the 52nd minute after he got a pass from Samuel Stone and he shot over the bar with just the goalkeeper to beat.
Emeka Obioma scored Enyimba’s second goal with a sublime finish in the 53rd minute. It was a quick counter attack from Enyimba which met Sadiq Aboubakar and the winger wasted no time in laying a low cross to Emeka Obioma from the left and the striker chose his angle well to finish nicely past Ameh
Nasarawa United became more confident and went in search of an equalizer but Enyimba were resolute and held on.
Substitute, Christian Ekong’s shot came off the crossbar in the 74th minute as he added impetus to Enyimba’s attack with darting runs.
The bitter-sweet story for Enyimba’s substitutes began in the 77th minute when substitute, Farouk Mohammed missed a cross in his box and clipped Aliyu Abdullahi and the referee pointed to the spot, then Michael Tochukwu sent Djeri the wrong way from to silence the fans
Austin Oladapo was presented with a golden opportunity to put Enyimba ahead in the 81st minute from the spot after Victor Collins fouled Sadiq Aboubakar in the box but Ameh guessed to save his effort
Nasarawa United were reduced to 10 men when Ini Edem was sent out in the 85th minute after he fouled Ekong who was through on goal. Oladapo stepped aside and it was Mohammed, who had caused Nasarawa’s equalizer that came to make amends and he scored despite Ameh’s effort
Enyimba held on to win their fourth home game in a row as they hope to finish in the top three