It’s another match week in the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL MD2) as we witnessed seven matches on Saturday and Sunday respectively with games involving Rangers International and Enyimba unable to hold because of continental engagements while the flood in Maiduguri means El-Kanemi Warriors game was postponed too.
Match week two did not fail to deliver drama with late goals and some talking points as we witnessed four draws and three wins.
Here are five observations from Mayowa Kufile in Match Week Two.
REMO STARS HAVE BEEN HERE BEFORE, CAN THEY GET OVER THE LINE?
Remo Stars 1 Sunshine Stars 0
Of all three teams that won away from home in match week one, only Remo Stars followed it up with another
victory (Niger Tornadoes could only draw at home against Nasarawa United while Enyimba were not in Action).
Catch up on the Highlights of our 1-0 win over Sunshine Stars in the Southwest derby 📺🍿
— Remo Stars Sports Club (@RemoStarsSC) September 15, 2024
Watch in full: https://t.co/Ud6y43v1Ir#REMSUN | #NPFL25 pic.twitter.com/XB0VCRFcbw
Over the last two seasons, Remo Stars have come close to clinching their first-ever NPFL title but little details have made them fall short with back-to-back second-place finishes.
The last time Remo Stars won their first two league games of the season, they lost the league title on goal difference to Enyimba (2022/2023) and the big question from the league followers is, Can Remo Stars last the distance?
Daniel Ogunmodede And His “Nearly Boys” Of Ikenne
NPFL MD2: TIME TO PANIC OR KEEP THE CALM
Rivers United 3 Heartland 1
When life gives you a second chance you have to make the most of it but it seems Heartland is not familiar with it after losing another game that sends them to the bottom of the log.
Losing your first two league games of the season is not something Coach Emmanuel Amuneke would have envisaged but maybe he can take consolation that those losses have come against two of the last three winners of the league (Enyimba and Rivers United)
The worry for the Naze Millionaires faithful should be how to stop a leaky defence that has conceded six goals in those two losses.
SHOOTING CAN’T AFFORD ANOTHER SLOW START.
3SC 1 Plateau United 1
Shooting Stars were some fifteen minutes away from clinching a continental ticket last season until Enyimba’s duo of Chijioke Mbaoma and Balogun Muyiwa scored two goals to propel Enyimba to a victory over Katsina United and leapfrog the Oluyole Warriors on the last day of the season.
The Oluyole Warriors owe their continental push last season to a strong mid-season form after not starting the season well, and their imperious home form was a catalyst for the turnaround.
If the club wants to return to the continent after over two decades, Gbenga Ogunbote must make sure yesterday’s one-all draw at home against Plateau United was not a return to last season’s slow start.
NPFL MD: A LEAGUE THAT WRITES HER SCRIPT
Matchweek one witnessed three away wins and four draws. Only the four draws were replicated in MD2 (we have only seven games compared to ten in week one).
Niger Tornadoes won away from home in the first week but were forced to a goalless draw by newly promoted Nasarawa United at home. Abia Warriors were well beaten by Remo Stars on day one but they were a few minutes away from snatching a victory at the home of 2021 Champions Akwa United.
This league will test your punditry level but you will be the one not to fold.
WHERE ARE THE STRIKERS?
Nigeria Minister of Communication, Innovation, and Digital Economy Bosun Tijani once tweeted on X (formerly Twitter) about an opportunity for a startup to create an affordable starter pack for a home food garden and asked an important question “Where are the builders?”.
I think it is time we ask NPFL teams, coaches, scouts, and the journalist, “Where are the strikers” That will help our teams on the continent and the league as a whole.
Brilliant initiative. There’s an opportunity here for a startup to create an affordable starter pack for home food garden. Where are the builders? https://t.co/fDleUdrrQK
— Dr. 'Bosun Tijani (@bosuntijani) July 7, 2024
Rangers International and Enyimba are the remaining two teams representing the country on the continent, and both could do with better finishers as Rangers scored a solitary goal in their one-nil victory over Sagrada in Uyo. At the same time, Enyimba played a goalless draw away at Etoile Filante.
Our team struggles on the continent have a lot of layers but goal scoring is a major one as Remo Stars and El-Kanemi Warriors found out at the last round of qualifying.
It’s over a decade since anyone who finishes as the league’s top scorer has at least twenty league goals. Please, Where are the strikers?
NPFL MD2 RESULTS
REMO STARS 1 SUNSHINE STARS 0
RIVERS UNITED 3 HEARTLAND 1
BAYELSA UNITED 1 KANO PILLARS 1
SHOOTING STARS 1 PLATEAU UNITED 1
AKWA UNITED 1 ABIA WARRIORS 1
NIGER TORNADOES 0 NASARAWA UNITED 0
KATSINA UNITED 2 BENDEL INSURANCE 1
