July 10, (THEWILL) – Sporting Lagos FC coach, Paul Offor, lauded Enyimba International after his team’s impressive draw with the Nigeria Premier League Champions at the Naija Super 8 competition in Lagos, while acknowledging gaps in their readiness for the top flight
Sporting Lagos, who secured promotion to the Nigerian top-flight league just over a year ago, put up a spirited fight against the two-time CAF Champions League winners. Although they had a chance to secure victory in the second half, Enyimba’s goalkeeper, John Noble, ensured that the hopes of the Aba-based club to qualify remained intact. Offor said he was not oblivious to Enyimba’s achievements in Nigerian football and regarded their performance as a special and motivating experience for his team.
Reflecting on Zulkifilu Rabiu’s missed penalty, Offor said: “I have no regrets. Just score the penalty and we win. We had a lot of one-on-one situations, we couldn’t find our attacking midfielders in the half-spaces and it made the game a bit harder for us.” Despite the impressive showing against Enyimba, the coach maintained that his team was not yet fully prepared for the NPL and harped on the need for a thorough assessment of the squad to identify areas for improvement.
Sporting Lagos will now shift their focus to the local South-West derby against Remo Stars on Tuesday, as they continue their preparations for their maiden season in the NPL.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
