Ukaegbu pleased with victory over Kwara United
Interim Head Coach Lawrence Ukaegbu has expressed satisfaction after Enyimba thrashed Kwara United 3-1 in a Matchday 17 Nigeria Premier Football League fixture in Aba on Sunday, describing it as a ‘good game’ for his side.
Two quick-fire goals from Chidera Michael in a space of three second half minutes sealed victory for the People’s Elephant, after Toyeeb Gidado hand canceled out Samuel Agu’s opener for Enyimba in the first half.
Reacting to the impressive win against the Harmony Boys, Ukaegbu added that the result and performance went according to his plans and expectation.
“It was a good game, and that was what we expected,” the 56-year-old tactician said. “We really trained well for the match. It wasn’t a surprise; it was a good game for us.”
Kwara United goalkeeper Badmus Nurudeen was at fault for Enyimba’s first and third goals, giving Agu and Michael golden opportunities which they converted.
Asked if his team will be relying on such fortunes to win games subsequently, Ukaebu said: “Apart from the mistakes (from the Kwara United goalkeeper), you know we missed some scoring chances too.
“The target, however, is to get nine points from our next three games.”
The 2-timeAFrican champions will next face El Kanemi Warriors in Maiduguri on Sunday. And ahead of the encounter, Ukaegbu is already planning how to keep the winning momentum going.
“We did that (won 3-1 against Kwara United) successfully because of the pattern we played,” he disclosed. “We played with a 4-2-3-1 formation, and as we are returning to defend, it changes to 4-5-1.
“Now, we are going to El Kanemi; we know how they play. We are not going to use the same formation, we’ll change our formation, which I will not reveal.”
With the win, the record 9-time league champions moved up to 8th on the NPFL standings, with 23 points from 17 matches, 8 pts behind table-toppers Nasarawa United (31).