Champions league: Enyimba through to second round

Nigeria’s league and FA cup champions, Enyimba FC of Aba on Sunday at the Enyimba International Stadium in Aba managed a scrappy 2-0 victory over Gabonese side, Mangasports to move to the second round of the Africa Champions league.

Enyimba players (white) console their Gabonese opponent
Smarting from a 1-0 first leg loss, the Aba based side looked disjointed and out of sorts throughout the ninety minutes the game lasted.

True to it, Enyimba having sold out at least half of the team that won the double for them last season, started with only five players from last seasons team.

“Yes we missed some of our players from last season but it is football and you can not have all your players all the time so we must live with the fact that we have built a new team,” Chairman Felix Anyansi Agwu told nigeriasports.com shortly after the match.

However the biggest disappointment was striker Charles Omokaro who failed to hit it off and was always running into strike pair, Timothy Anjembe before he was taken off in the 35th minute.

Enyimba had the early chances in the game but did not seem able to put them away.

Wasteful attack almost ruins Enyimba

In the 9th minute, Anjembe won a free kick at the edge of the Manga sports box but it was wasted by the duo of Ajibade Omolade and Chiedozie Johnson.

Four minutes later it was Anjembe again who’s persistence won corner, but Kingsley Elvis headed clear of the goalkeeper and the cross bar.

In the 16th minute, Tyevkase won a free kick taken by Omolade but Kinglsey Elvis headed wide.

“I agree my boys missed a lot of chances and were rather disjointed especially upfront but Nigerians must realise that this is our second competitive game this year while the Gabonese league is already in its sixth week,” Technical Adviser Alphonsus Dike told nigeriasports.com.

“By the time we get more games together, we will start playing more as a team,”

After the early pressure, Mangasports slowly settled down to posses the ball, especially in midfield, trying to make incursions into the Enyimba area, through Lolo Patrice and Meye Bogu, but they just could not find a way past Enyimba’s back four.

With just twenty minutes gone into the game, Uga Okpara’s blunder in the heart of defence gave the Gabonese their first incursion in the area the home side, but hesitation on the part of Bogu ensured Uga recovered on time to atone for his mistake.

Enyimba’s returnee full back, Ajibade Omolade was probably more of a threat to the Mangasports defence than their twin attacking pair of Anjembe and Omokaro as time and time again, Omolade’s threatening moves were cause of concern for the away side.

One of such was in the 24th minute when Ajibade in a one-two combination with Chiedozie Johnson split open the Gabonese defence and face to face with the goalkeeper his shot was deflected for a corner which was wasted by Benedict Atule.

Lolo Patrice would have had his chance to win the match for his side with just ten minutes to the break when he freed himself from Uga Okpara as a long ball came in from his goalkeeper and shot first time but missed target by a hair’s breath.

At this point, Enyimba’s bench decided to bring on Atanda Shakibu for a lethargic Charles Omokaro, a change that seemed to pay off almost immediately for the Aba based side.

Eight minutes after he came on, Atanda was involved in the most telling moment of the match yet, when after a mazy run in the center of the pitch, his pass connected David Tyevkase on the right who laid on for Anjembe in the six yard box, but he shot straight at the goalkeeper.

Just on the dot of half time, it was Atanda Shakibu again who went past his marker in the box and shot past the keeper, but Tyevkase who should have buried the loose ball blasted wide with no one in the post.

Blunders close game

When Enyimba finally got the curtain raiser five minutes into the second half, it was in the most bizarre of fashions.

A loose ball that should have been held firmly by keeper Bidonga Yann, slipped off his grip and rather than catch the dropped ball, he tried to bounce it back into his hands, but Ajibade Omolade sneaked in from the goalkeepers blind side to steal the ball away and bury it to the chagrin of the hapless keeper.

But Atanda Shakibu was not done with the game as his header, three minutes after the goal was scored freed Anjembe who side stepped his marker before letting one go from thirty yards but it missed the mark.

With the game slowly dragging to an end, two blunders could have changed the entire face of the game.

First, defender Uga Okpara fell asleep on the ball almost allowing and opponent get the better of him right at the edge of his box, but he recovered on time before any damage could have been done, and then in the 72nd minute, Kinglsey Elvis mistimed a pass that fell at the feet of Ngaonaye Henri who tried a dropping shot from thirty five yards that got the best out of Dele Aiyenugba who had to stretch full length to tip for a corner

With eight minutes to go, Njong Kevin pulled down a rampaging Atanda Shakibu and the referee wasted no time in pointing to the spot for a penalty kick but Dele Aiyenugba hit the cross bar before David Tyevkase conjured up goal with just two minutes of regulation time left.

In a seemingly harmless situation, Tyevkase turned round smoothly at the edge of the box and shot tamely behind keeper Bidonga Yann for the winning goal.
[photo alt="mangasportscoach" align=right]mangasportscoach[/photo]
Mangasports coach, Mousa Dousou

Mangasports Coach, Mousa Dousu attributed the defeat to loss of concentration twice on the part of his central defence and goalkeeper.

“We tried to hold them back and survived the first half but it was just too bad that we had to concede those two second half goals,” Dousu told nigeriasports.com.

“We will go back home and plan ahead for next season’s competition.”