MFM FC began their 2020/2021 Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL) campaign with a 2-1 victory over visiting Warri Wolves at the Agege Township Stadium.
The Olukoya Boys started like a house on fire and did not hide their intention of bagging maximum points as the season kicked off after a long break induced by the Covid 19 lockdown.
MFM Coach Tony Buolus described his team’s first half performance as the best he has seen for a while and praised his wards for taking their chances early in the game.
The home team should have registered their first goal as early as the 4th minute but Goalkeeper Pwadadi Bulus brilliantly stopped Akanni Elijah shot inside the box. The former Adamawa United shot stopper was only making his debut for Warri Wolves in Lagos.
MFM took a deserved lead in the 8th minute as Odeyemi Ebenezer rose highest in the box to head in a Bala Akintunde corner kick. The visitors defenders completely lost sight of the bulky striker.
Warri Wolves should have equalized a minute later. Uche Ihuarulam will be kicking himself for not burying an excellent opportunity as the home team were caught cold on the counter. With only Goalkeeper Adeniyi to beat,the striker somehow found the keeper too big to beat as he made an excellent stop.
With the visitors unwilling to take their chances,the home team doubled their lead in the 20th minute. Muyiwa Balogun tricky shot from a tight angle in the box was deflected into the visitors goal as Goalkeeper Pwadadi was left stranded.
From that point it was a mountain to climb for Warri Wolves but they will take credit for the way they tried to fight back.
Their resilience paid off midway into the half as John Paul Chinedu was at the end of a fine pullout from Ihuarulam. He simply guided the ball into the net as the MFM defenders could not deal with the low cross.
The second half ended In a stalemate but the home team has done enough in the early exchanges to bag maximum points.
Coach Evans Ogenyi was full of praise for his wards second half performance but rued the chances they failed to take especially in the first half.
“It’s unfortunate we conceded in the first half but came out stronger in the second half. This is a marathon we will go back work on the weaknesses we have noticed in this game and hopefully come back stronger in the next match”
MFM will head to Makurdi as guest of Lobi Stars while Warri Wolves will host Adamawa United in Match Day 2 of the Nigeria Professional Football League.
