Nasarawa United v Plateau United: The Solid miners seek 2nd win of the season
Nasarawa United host unbeaten Plateau United FC at the Lafia Township Stadium on Sunday evening in NPFL match day 6 as they seek for their 2nd win of the season.
Nasarawa United lost 2-1 away to Enyimba last weekend in Matchday 5 and will be looking to get back into winning ways.
The People’s Elephant drew the first blood in the 13th minute through Mfon Udoh but Adamu Hassan battled back to get the leveler for the Solid Miners in the 33rd minute before Udoh again scored the second goal for the hosts in the 66th minute.
After the game, Nasarawa United player, Lordson, disclosed that the Lafia side never gave anything away in the match and deserved to get at least a point from their fixture with Enyimba but he has charged his teammates to forget about the loss and focus on their next game.
“It was a very good fight from our team and I will say kudos to them. We were unfortunate to lose the game. It was painful we lost today (Sunday),”Lordson said”
”Had we won, the confidence would have been so high ahead of our subsequent matches but we will do our best to ensure that we dust this defeat off and concentrate on the next game against Plateau United.”
Plateau Utd maintained top spot and remain unbeaten after beating Abia Warriors 2 goals to 1 on Match Day 5.
They took the lead just five minutes into the encounter when Golbe Elisha scored from a free kick from the edge of the penalty box.
The dominant Plateau United almost doubled the lead in the 22nd minute with a shot by Elisha but his effort went just wide.The visitors then stepped up their game and soon got rewarded for their efforts in the 34th minute.
The visitors then stepped up their game and soon got rewarded for their efforts in the 34th minute.
Godwin Zaki equalized with a well- taken shot from outside the penalty area which beat goalkeeper John Gaadi.
Plateau United restored their lead in the 43rd minute when an Abia Warriors defender handled the ball in the penalty area.
Kabiru Umar’s penalty kick was parried by goalkeeper Agbok Ekoi, but Philip Azango was on hand to put the ball at the back of the net from the rebound which gave them the vital victory.
After the match, Kennedy Boboye of Plateau United said he was happy with securing victory after a very tough match.
“Abia Warriors are a very technical and sound side, and they came with the intention of getting a result in Jos.’’
The coach said his side would remain focused and would not be distracted by results of other clubs who might drop points.
He said his team’s concern was where they would be at the end of the season and not where they were at the moment.
Nasarawa United are yet to keep a clean sheet in four matches this season after Matchday 1 goalless draw against Wikki Tourists, conceding 5 goals from 5 matches this season.
Plateau United are the first team to score 10 goals this season in the League. It took them 11 match days to achieve that last season but have achieved that in just 5 games this season, which shows their goal prowess this season.
They have conceded four goals so far, keeping only one clean sheet also. This season is the first season they have won 4 out of their first 5 league matches since 1999.
All these stats show how Plateau United have been impressive this season.
Last season, this fixture at the Lafia township stadium ended in a 2-1 for Nasarawa United and 1 nil at home for Plateau.
A win or draw for Plateau United would still make them stay on top spot, but NasarawaUnited have to do all possible to get a win, anything less than a win for the Lafia based side, would be a disappointment. But they would have to work really hard to do that.
Goals from both teams look likely, as they have only 1 clean sheets each.
PREDICTION: NASARAWA UTD 1-1 PLATEAU UTD
