Football fans were held spellbound at the end of a five-goal thriller at the Agege Stadium in the Matchday 31 clash of the Nigeria Professional Football League game between MFM FC and visiting Katsina United on Monday. MFM won 3-2.
The game was originally scheduled for Sunday but was moved over to Monday when heavy rains made the Agege Stadium pitch unplayable.
It took only 15 minutes for the league's leading marksman Stephen Odey to register his 18th goal of the season. The goal had the hallmark of a typical MFM attack. Onuwa Chukwuka picked the ball from deep inside their half located Sikiru Olatunbosun who flicked a pass to Odey just behind the Katsina defenders.
Goalkeeper Dami Paul rushed out to save the situation but in a swift move Odey's cushioned header left the goalkeeper for dead. He simply raced on to tap into an empty net. A striker's goal of the highest quality.
The home team doubled their lead in the 29th minute through Sikiru Olatunbosun. The striker was at the receiving end of a well worked move by the home team. Stephen Odey turned provider when his through pass was not picked up by the Katsina United defence. The shot from a tight angle leaving Dami Paul red-faced.
The first half ended 2-0 in favour of the home team. Nobody was prepared for what turned out to be cracking game in the second half.
The visitors pulled one back midway in the half when MFM conceded a free kick just outside their box. Katsina captain on the day, Destiny Ashadi stepped up and his sweetly struck kick beat MFM goalkeeper Abayomi Folarin.
The ovation that greeted the visitors goal had hardly died down when the equalizer arrived. Agege-born Obinna Eleje's fierce shot off Katsina United free kick from just outside MFM goal area was a delight to behold. Fans could not believe their eyes as Baldwin Bazuaye's boys practically came back from the dead.
From this point on, it was anybody's game. Credit to the visitors as they continued to pile on the pressure.
The winning goal arrived with 11 minutes to the end. Onuwa was at the end of Olatunbosun's cross inside a crowded Katsina United box. His tap in struck the post and nestled behind Katsina United goalkeeper. The ovation that greeted the goal almost brought the roof down as relieved fans celebrated a famous win against their hard fighting visitors.
The victory moves the Olukoya Boys to second on the NPFL log with 52 points, three points adrift of league leaders Plateau United.