NPFL: Rangers defeat Ikorodu City FC 1-0 in Lagos

Ikorodu City lost at home to the defending champions and are still looking for their first goal after Matchday 3.

Rangers International Football Club of Enugu on Wednesday defeated Ikorodu City Football Club of Lagos 1-0 to maintain their unbeaten run in the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL).

This was a rescheduled Matchday 2 fixture, played at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena, Onikan, Lagos.

The visitors took the lead through a well-placed flick from captain Chinemerem Ugwueze after a goalmouth scramble in the 25th minute.

Ikorodu City could have equalised in the 42nd minute, but Chibuike Ohaegbulam’s header was cleared off the goal line.

Moses Shodeinde and Solomon Emmanuel replaced Harrison Uzondu and Ezekiel Samuel, respectively, in the 76th minute, and the home side created more chances, but the visitors were defensively resolute.

The ‘Oga Boys’, as they are popularly called, wasted so many chances that could have seen them win the game as they dominated with attacking threats

In an interview with NAN after the match, Fidelis Ilechukwu, the technical adviser of Rangers, said Lagos was like his home.

Ilechukwu commended the performance of his team, saying it was a fantastic display.

“We are going to build on this win in our subsequent matches because it is a morale booster for the team,” he said.

Rangers just lost out of the CAF Champions League, losing 3-2 on aggregate to Angolan side Sagrada Esperanca on Saturday.

For his part, Coach Bright Ozebagbe of Ikorodu City FC said his team lost many scoring chances that could have made the difference.

“The loss means a lot to the team, but the league is a marathon. Our first home result didn’t speak well about our performance.

“We’ll go back to the drawing board and try to work on areas that we need to improve.

“We have moments of final touches that we should have converted. I think there are many moments where we lost the final decision.

“We are an attacking team, so we created a lot of chances; this is worrisome for us, especially at home. We need to take our chances. Maybe by the next game, we will get better,” he said.

“There are also moments where we needed to be calm, which we did not execute well. The boys need to be more focused and work on themselves for the final touch.

“Rangers are the league champions, so we didn’t make it easy for them. They only had one clear-cut chance and made use of it.

“The tactical formation is not faulty, but I am worried why we did not take our chances because our ambition is to stay in the league,” he said.

The NPFL newcomers have lost two of three league games and have yet to score. Remo Stars lead the table with nine points, followed by Rivers United and Niger Tornadoes, who have seven points, respectively.

Ikorodu City, Heartland, and Bayelsa United are the last three places on the NPFL table, with a point each.

(NAN)