Reigning champions of the Nigeria Premier Football League, Enyimba defeated Sporting Lagos to begin the new year on a fine note at the Enyimba International Stadium on Sunday, Nigeriasoccernet.com reports.
A goal in the first half and a late goal in the second half saw the People's Elephant beat the Noisy Lagosians 2-0 in the match day 17 fixture.
In a game totally dominated by the Aba side Alaibo, Ekene Awazie, Eze Ekwutoziam all came close to scoring, but couldn't just find the target earlier in the half.
The deadlock eventually came in the 28 minutes after Izuogu Chibueze’s shot at goal hit Sporting's player's hand inside the box as the referee pointed to the spot.
Ekwutoziam stepped up 3 minutes later to send the goalkeeper the wrong way and score for the Aba Giants.
Ekwutoziam could have doubled the lead, but his volley from 30 yards was denied by the wood work 3 minutes before the end of the half.
Joseph Atule also came close to scoring at the stroke of the half, but he missed a one-on-one situation as the half ended 1-0 in favour of Enyimba.
The host continued with the momentum of the first half as Uwana Asuquo hit a strike on target from outside the box, but hit the woodwork 3 minutes into the half.
Sporting Lagos had a couple of attempts in the form of free kicks, but none proved dangerous as goalkeeper Ani Ozoemena saved one of them.
Akanni Elijah who had been adventurous since his introduction finally put the game to bed with his beautiful finish.
After beating two Sporting players, he exchanged passes with Chibuike Nwaiwu to slot home for Enyimba.
The win returns the current champions to 4th on the log with 3 points adrift the top with 2 matches to spare.
Uche Dozie