Abuja- The national under-20 team, the Flying Eagles, on Monday shot to the top of the table at the ongoing Glo Premier League Super 4 Invitational Tournament by beating Kano Pillars.
They beat the 2014/2015 Nigerian Professional Football League champions Kano 2-1, for their second victory in two games.
In the Matchday 2 game played at the Abuja National Stadium mainbowl, the national junior team sealed their victory in the first 45 minutes of play.
The team’s foreign-based player, Taiwo Awoniyi who plies his trade with Kalmar FF in Sweden, was instrumental to the team’s success with an assist and a goal.
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The national side started the match on a high note as early as the 4th minute with a free-kick which went right into the hands of Pillars’ goalkeeper Theophilus Afelokhai.
They got another chance in the 15th minute through Ifeanyi Matthew whose low cross was not connected by his teammates.
But they were able to get into the lead in the 21st minute when Suleiman Abdullahi calmly finished a pass from Awoniyi, dispatching it into the bottom right.
Eleven minutes later, Flying Eagles’ skipper Musa Mohammed helped into his team’s net to level up for their Kano-based opponents.
In the 33rd minute, Mohammed nearly made amends but he failed to utilise the chance he got.
But a minute later, Awoniyi was able to restore the team’s lead as he swerved past Afelokhai to score.
Upon resumption in the second half, Zaharadeen Bello was brought down in the box by Afelokhai for a penalty kick, but Chidera Eze fluffed the chance by missing.
In the 75th minute, what would have been a tragic incident was brought under control when Flying Eagles’ Izu Omego fell on the pitch.
He fell down after he cleared the ball out of his team’s goal area.
It took the medical team more than five minutes to resuscitate him, before he was taken out of the pitch in an ambulance for further treatment.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Flying Eagles’ had on Saturday beaten Enyimba International 2-0.
The six-team tournament which started on Jan. 24 will end on Feb. 1.(NAN)
