The Chairman, Sporting Lagos FC, Godwin Enakhena, on Sunday described the 4-1 win over visiting Remo Stars FC as massive and unexpected.
Enakhena said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the sidelines of the 2023/2024 Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) Match Day 24 between the ‘Noisy Lagosians’ and the Sky Blue Stars of Ikenne.
The Southwest derby played at the iconic Mobolaji Johnson Arena (Onikan) saw the Tech Boys inflict the heaviest defeat so far on the Daniel Ogunbodede-tutored side this season.
Sporting Lagos FC got their first goal in the 4th minutes through penalty, coolly slotted in by Junior Lokosa after his teammate, Godwin Odibo, was brought down by Remo Stars defenders in the 18 yard box.
They scored the second goal in the 27th minute through their right-footed winger, Paschal Durugbor.
However, Remo Stars got their lone goal in the 37th minute when Sporting Lagos FC defenders diverted the ball into their net while attempting to clear a cross from Remo Stars’ Sodiq Ismail.
The noisy Lagosians’ Phillip Kehinde restored their two-goal lead with an acrobatic volley against his former side to make the score line 3-1 in 48th minute.
A goal-mouth scramble in the 60th minutes, however, saw the Lagosians’ put the icing on the cake in another goal-mouth scramble turned in by Philip Odubia’s overhead kick.
Seeing the massive 4-1 win over the league title-chasing Remo Stars, an elated Enakhena, also a sports journalist, said he saw a win but not with such a wide-margin against a team vying to win the league.
“Honestly, I did not see this massive win coming against Remo Stars, although, I see a win but I did not expect a massive win.
“We should know that this is Remo Stars and of course, a local derby in the southwest and I am glad that we took our chances.
“Now, we have played six games won four, drew one and lost one. Better days are already here and have started long time ago; this is just an icing on the cake,” he said.
The Remo Stars’ Coach, Daniel Ogunmodede said he was embarrassed by the score line his team’s loss of vital points in the match.
“We have lost a vital point, we came to Lagos with the hope of getting three points; but we are going home with nothing. First, apologies to our fans, and I take responsibility for the loss.
“We lost in our moments of defending which was very poor and we allowed the Sporting Lagos FC to run rings over us, even behind our defenders.
“Sporting Lagos threw lots of balls against us and they are lucky to put the balls in our net.
“We need to move on from this to our next game because that is football for us,” he said.
NAN reports that Sporting Lagos FC’s next game is against Niger Tornadoes in Kaduna in the mid week fixtures.
Remo Stars will also welcome the league’s defending champions, Enyimba International FC of Aba, to Ikenne.
With the win, Sporting Lagos FC now occupies the 12th position on the 2023/2024 NPFL table with 31 points from 24 matches including eight wins, seven draws and nine losses.
Remo Stars on the other hand are now 5th on the table with 39 points from 23 matches with 12 wins, three draws and eight losses.
