After a quite lengthy hiatus, the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) finally resumed match action on Sunday as the 2020/21 season commenced with games played at several approved match venues across the country.
Six games were played on Sunday evening but the encounter that really caught the eye – especially for the many football betting specialists who find the local league relatively predictable – was the one which saw Kwara United snatch a 2-0 win over the leaders from last season Plateau United right there at their ground in Jos.
Serving you a quick reminder of what played out in the previous season, it is worthy to first note that the 2019/20 session was stopped abruptly back in March earlier this year at matchday 25 – just around the time a national lockdown was imposed by the Nigerian government to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
This forced the League Management Company (LMC) – the body in charge of regulating all Nigerian leagues – to cancel the season, announcing there will be neither a champion nor relegation for teams in the topflight. The representatives on the continent were thus determined from the then current standings after a Point Per Game (PPG) metric was used to further justify placements.
Plateau, who finished top of the standings last term with 1.96 PPG, however witnessed an end to their 10-match unbeaten run on the opening matchday of the new season following the stunning defeat from the visiting Kwara side. Quickfire second-half goals from Jide Fatokun and Michael Ohanu were enough to get Abdullahi Biffo’s men – who noticeably struggled for the better part of last season – off to a flying start in their campaign.
At the Agege Stadium in Lagos, the encounter between MFM FC and Warri Wolves was somewhat settled in the first-half. Ebenezer Odeyemi and Muyiwa Balogun scored in quick succession to earn the Olukoya Boys a 2-0 lead before John Paul halved Wolves’ deficit just before the half-hour mark. There was not as much events in the second period of the game with hosts MFM bagging maximum points with a 2-1 win.
Adamawa United forced a 1-1 draw with visiting Kano Pillars courtesy of a late equaliser from Isa Garba. Pillars’ captain Rabiu Ali had initially gotten his side into an early lead on 14 minutes but the Sai Masu Gida eventually saw it cancelled out by Garba’s late second-half effort.
A Reuben Nicodemus brace helped Nasarawa United recover from an early setback and record a 2-1 home win over Wikki Tourist. 18-year-old Nicodemus scored his first on seven minutes but it was only an equaliser to quickly cancel Promise Damala’s 5th-minute opener for the visitors. The goal that eventually got the hosts the lead (and the win) was another well-taken strike from Nicodemus – this time, seven minutes into the second-half.
Ifeanyi Ubah defeated Lobi Stars by the least of margins in Nnewi. Nonso Nzediegwu scored the only goal of the 1-0 win on 47 minutes.
Jigawa Golden Stars also piped visiting Sunshine Stars by a lone goal – their own win courtesy of a Stone Onukwube strike 12 minutes from time.
The remaining four matches for the Gameweek 1 will be played on Monday and Tuesday as detailed in the image above.
