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Titleholders Akwa United kicked off their campaign on a brilliant note after beating Kano Pillars 3-0 in Uyo on Sunday, December 19. A first-half strike from Ezekiel Bassey gifted the home side the lead before Stephen Chukwude made it 2-0 in the 52nd minute. Ubong Friday would end any comeback hopes for the visitors with a stoppage-time strike to hand the champions all three points. At the Muhammadu Dikko Stadium, Enugu Rangers beat home side Katsina United 2-1. A 13th-minute strike from Ossy Martins gifted the visitors the lead before a 35th-minute strike from Mustapha Salisu brought the game to a stalemate. Martins would score again nine minutes after the break as the visitors hung on to a 2-1 win despite a red card. In the Aba oriental derby, Enyimba FC beat neighbours Abia Warriors 2-1 to register a fine start to the new season under coach Finidi George. The Peoples’ Elephants took the lead through an Ekene Awazie 34th minute goal. Abia Warriors would get an equalizer with just five minutes left before the break, through a Paul Samson goal. With 13 minutes left to play, Chidozie Obasi handed Finidi George his first league win with a ferocious free-kick goal.
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See Full NPFL Results:
MFM FC 0-2 Remo Stars Gombe Utd 0-0 3SC Akwa United 3- 0 Kano Pillars Katsina Utd 1-2 Rangers Heartland 3-3 Nasarawa United Lobi Stars 1-1 Rivers United Kwara Utd 3-1 Dakkada Enyimba 2-1 Abia Warriors Tornadoes 1-0 Plateau United On the international front, the Super Eagles of Nigeria left fullback Zaidu Sanusi commanded a Man-of-the-Match performance in Porto’s 4-0 away thrashing of Vizela in the Portuguese league on Sunday, December 19, 2021. Sanusi scored the third goal of the game before being substituted. Samuel Chukwueze came off the bench to hand Villarreal a 3-1 win over Real Sociedad in the Spanish La Liga on Saturday, December 18. With the Yellow Submarines 2-1 up, Chukwueze scored in the dying minutes of the game to gift the Unai Emery side a convincing away victory. On a bad note, Super Eagles striker Paul Onuachu has been ruled out of the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon after picking up a hamstring injury in Genk’s 1-1 draw against Royal Antwerp in the Belgian league on Sunday. Onuachu had scored the opener for Genk, but he was replaced by another Nigerian Ike Ugbo with 20 minutes left to play. Sources: Complete Sports NG Pulse NG Featured Image Source: GOALGot a suggestion? Contact us: editor@connectnigeria.com
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