Tag: Enyimba

It was all square at the Umuahia Township Stadium yesterday in a rescheduled NPFL Week 6 tie played between Enyimba and Heartland afterboth sides settled for a 1-1 draw in the Oriental Derby tie.

Enyimba opened the scoreline in the 27th minute through Peter Onyekachi who capitalised on a gaffe from Heartland goalkeeper, Philip Acho to get the People’s Elephant’s curtain raiser.

Heartland didn’t allow Enyimba to enjoy their lead for long after Ifeanyi Onuigbo who made his third start for the Naze Millionaires headed home the leveller in the 31st minute after he was left unmarked by the hosts defenders.

Enyimba did everything possible to get the winner but  Heartland who were supported by their fans who went to Umuahia courtesy of the Imo government in about eight buses held on tenaciously to grab their first away point on their foes soil since 2014 when the played a goalless draw.

It was Onuigbo’s second goal from three matches played thus far for Heartland and it has improved the Owerri side’s points haul on the log to 18 from 13 matches. They are 11th while Enyimba must do more with 13 points from nine games and are still placed 19th on the log.

Nigeria’s Enyimba will face Etoile du Sahel of Tunisia on Wednesday in a CAF Champions League second round return leg match on Wednesday by 6pm Nigerian time.

Enyimba won the first leg in Port Harcourt 3-0 courtesy of a hat-trick by Mfon Udoh. The seven-time Nigeria champions have therefore been training under floodlights at the Agege Stadium in lagos ahead of this fixture. They will fly out to Tunisia via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from Lagos on Sunday.

They plan to train under floodlights in Sousse Tuesday night. The overall winners of this tie will march on to the group stage of the Champions League, while the losers drop down to the second-tier Confederation Cup.

Hosts Sunshine Stars beat 10-man Enyimba 2-1 in a rescheduled Nigeria league game Wednesday.

The home win has lifted ‘The Akure Gunners’ to 16th place on the table with 11 points from 10 matches.

Isiaka Oladuntoye headed Sunshine in front before Nigeria international defender Chima Akas equalised for Enyimba, all in the first half.

The home team then netted the match winner through Okiki Afolabi with an assist by Seun Olulayo on 84 minutes.

Enyimba were reduced to 10 men after Ifeanyi Anaemena got his second booking for a foul on Benjamin Francis. His first caution was in the 27th minute.

The Nigeria champions are due to defend a 3-0 home win at Etoile du Sahel of Tunisia next week as they aim to advance to the money-spinning group phase of the CAF Champions League.

Enyimba attacking midfielder, Ikechukwu Ibenegbu has said his will win convincingly against the Tunisian giants, Etoile Sportive du Sahel.

The two-time African champions will host the North African side in Sunday’s CAF Champions League clash over two legs for a place in the lucrative pool at the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium in Port Harcourt.

Ibenegbu said the North African side are known opponents and will not pose a hard nut for his side to crack on Sunday in the Garden City.

“The clash against the Tunisian side, Etoile du Sahel is one of those matches we must overcome to become champions of Africa once again. It merely calls for adequate preparation on our part to triumph over the Tunisian side which I believe we have done in the past weeks.

“Right now we need God’s grace and mother luck to win convincingly on Sunday at least to make the reverse fixture clash in Sousse, Tunisia a lot easier.

“Good enough we know the Tunisian side quite well as strong side and CAF Confederation Cup title holders. Etoile du Sahel are very good side we will give them due respect on and off the pitch but will never fear or run away from them.

“Our target is to win well here in Port Harcourt, Nigeria so that it will be easy over there in Tunisia,” said the former Heartland and Warri Wolves ace to supersport.com.

The reverse fixture clash is expected to hold in fortnight at the 25000 seats Stade Olympique de Sousse in Sousse, Tunisia.

Enyimba forward Abu Azeez has said his club are determined to overcome Etoile du Sahel of Tunisia to reach the money-spinning stage of this year’s CAF Champions League.

Enyimba welcome the Tunisia league leaders on Sunday in Port Harcourt with the return leg in Tunisia slated for the weekend of April 19-20.

“We have to be in the group stage and therefore we are going to fight for it. This is the Champions League, if you want to go far you must overcome small and big teams,” former Warri Wolves star Azeez told the Enyimba official website

“I would really love to play against Etoile du Sahel. These are the sort of games that as a player you look forward to.

“But if I don’t make the team, it won’t matter too much as we have the right players who can beat them anywhere. It is just for us as a team to work together and play with determination. If we are determined, Etoile can’t stop us.”

Interestingly, both teams clashed in the final of the 2004 Champions League and had to be separated by a penalty shootout for the seven-time Nigeria champions to win the competition back-to-back.

Etoile won 2-1 at home, Enyimba then cancelled that loss by winning 2-1 in Nigeria, before they won the penalty shootout 3-2.

Enyimba captain, Chinedu Udoji has told SportingLife that they are never afraid of any team including their CAF Champions League Second Round, First Leg foes, Etoile du Sahel of Tunisia whom they will face on Sunday at the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium in Port Harcourt.

Udoji and the People’s Elephant have played four matches in this year’s lucrative African club competition but they have relied mostly on their performance in their home matches to progress against Vipers SC (Uganda) and Vital ‘O Club (Burundi) 2-1 and 6-3 on aggregate in that order.

The skipper of the Aba giants revealed to SportingLife that they will approach their first leg tie with so much enthusiasm hoping to win the game by as many goals as possible before thinking about the second leg in Tunis.

He confirmed that Etoile du Sahel are not entirely new to them and they are hoping to  work on the little tip they have on them to nail the visitors when they visit Nigeria this weekend.

Enyimba striker Joseph Osadiaye, 21, has professed his love for the Nigeria Professional Football League champions and has admitted that his performances have improved due to the conducive atmosphere at the club.

In his last three matches in the Nigerian top-flight, the former Warri Wolves star has struck three goals, in games against Plateau United, Enugu Rangers and Shooting Stars, helping the Aba side rack up six points from a possible nine.

“I love Enyimba and that is why I joined them. Compared to Warri Wolves, they are more organized,” said Osadiaye to allnigeriasoccer.com.

“I have scored three goals this season, I can’t say now how many goals I’ll score at the end of the season but I believe in myself I’ll score more goals.”

Osadiaye spent his formative years as a footballer at Paulson Football Academy in Benin City before he was snapped up by Akwa United and Warri Wolves.

The Enyimba number 20 has contractual obligations with the club until 2017, having penned a two-year deal at the start of this season.

Enyimba have arrived in Burundi to honour their CAF Champions League first round, second leg tie against Vital’ O FC fixed for Saturday in Bujumbura.

The People’s Elephant are holding a 5-1 advantage to the return leg after the Nigeria’s CAF Champions League representatives made mincemeat of the visitors from Burundi when the initial leg was played last Sunday at the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium, Port Harcourt.

The team departed the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos around 3am Thursday and and got to Bujumbura early today.

Chairman of the club, Felix Anyansi who showered praises on the team after the heroics of the first leg however charged the players and the technical crew to make qualification certain by beating their hosts again on Saturday during the return leg.

“We shall go to Burundi to prove a point,” Anyansi told Goal.

“We have heard all that have been said by Vital’O that they have the wherewithal to turn around the result in the return leg and we must not take that lightly at all. We must go to Burundi with the mindset that we are going for another victory which will be ideal judging by the numbers of hours it takes to get to Burundi.”