The highly anticipated NPFL Lagos derby between Sporting Lagos and Ikorodu City ended in a stalemate on Wednesday, www.aclsports.com reports. It was a game with so many things at stake, but it finished goalless in the end.
The game, earlier fixed as a match day two game but rescheduled due to the unavailability of the Mobolaji Johnson Arena, started with high intensity as both teams went in search of the opening goal.
Ikorodu City goalkeeper Michael Atata was the first to be called to action as he made a brilliant stop to deny Gafar Olaniyan early on. Sporting Lagos continued to enjoy down the right with Gafar coming close once more.
Just as it was mentioned in the preview, Atata’s opposite number, Ebenezer Harcourt made a series of stunning stops to prevent the home side from falling behind, denying Peter Kuye, Dennis Mse and Donald Obiajulu brilliantly. In the end, the half finished without a goal.
After the interval and some personnel changes from the two coaches, the game barely returned to the same level of the previous half.
Ikorodu City resolved to shooting from range with most of them coming from the boots of Aderemi Adeoye. At the other end, Sporting had a couple of blocked efforts as the time started running out.
In the end, the first-ever top flight meeting between the two biggest clubs in Lagos finished in a stalemate. Consequently, Sporting Lagos remained without a home win this season.
Enyimba defeated Shooting Stars 4-2 in Aba to secure their first league win of the season. Richard Ezinna, Damian Chibueze, Idris Abubakar, and Ifeanyi Ihemekwele scored to hand the former champions a four-goal lead before Mustapha Adams and Johnmark Aule scored late on for Shooting Stars to make the scoreline respectable.
In the other game in Ozoro, champions Rangers International defeated Warri Wolves courtesy of Godwin Obaje’s 100th career goal. Meanwhile, it finished 1-1 between Katsina United and Rivers United. Samson Olasupo’s goal for the visitors was cancelled out by Sani Mubarak.
