Rangers International Football Club of Enugu on Wednesday beat visiting FC IfeanyiUbah of Nnewi 3-1 in a 2019/2020 Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) Match Day 13 fixture.
Rangers got the match’s first goal through Ibrahim Olawoyin in the 20th minute, while Awazie Ekewe drew the visitors level in the 41st minute to make it 1-1 into the break.
Olawoyin completed his brace in the 68th minute to relieve the home team of the pressure suffered from a myriad of losses in the NPFL.
This had placed the club at the bottom of the league table since.
Victory in the match was sealed for the home team by Kenechukwu Agu in the 80th minute, when he latched onto a loose ball inside the penalty area to make hay.
Speaking after the match, Rangers’ stand-in coach Salisu Yusuf hailed the players for their resilience in the match.
He however said a lot of work needed to be done in the team as the strikers were not yet delivering.
“We scored three goals today and you can see that a midfielder scored the brace instead of the strikers.
“That was a good game and well-deserved points at home. I hope it continues,” the coach said.
Yusuf said the visitors were a good side but could not withstand the experience and firework of his team.
”We need the points more than they do and that was why we worked for it from the first blast of the whistle.
On his part, FC IfeanyiUbah’s midfielder Cooper Ikenna said his team came for the three points or at worst a draw.
“It was fortunate that we lost the match, but that is football for us all.
“Rangers are a good team and they played well today but we are the architects of our failure.
“We were in the game throughout the first 45 minutes and that was why we went into the break with a 1-1 scoreline.
“Loss of concentration cost us the two goals after the interval,’’ Ikenna said.
He however assured that they would keep fighting for points both home and away till the end of the league.
Rangers still remain at the bottom of the league log in spite of the win, with nine points after 10 matches in the 13-week-old league.(NAN)
