Enyimba International beat Akwa United to grab their first three points of the new Nigerian Premier Football League season handing the people's elephants their first win of the season as they continued to build momentum towards the inaugral African Football League debut match against Moroccan side Wydad Athletic club.
The hosts took the lead twelve minutes into the game thanks to Innocent Gabriel before big striker Chijioke Mbaoma completed a beautiful team move just four minutes later double their lead in Aba.
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Akwa would however fight back to get on level terms and did so with goals from Kufre Ebong and David Philip in added time of the first half minutes before half time and seven minutes after the hour mark respectively. All that before former Uyo based player Somari Alalibo scored the winner - a powerful freekick to beat Nurudeen in goal and present the two time African Champions the win.
But one of the talking points in the fixture was Chijioke Mbaoma who in his first game this season shun like a million stars - scoring in just his first game of the Nigerian Premier Football League season to condemn Akwa United and open his account for the new season after almost signgle handedly winning the title for the club last season in the playoffs.
I think it's nice for the team we beat Akwa, but that is now in the past and we want to focus on Wydad Cassablanca this weekend to ensure we make Nigeria proud.- Mbaoma told Comfort 95.1 FM Correspondent Abraham Joseph.
The current champions of the Nigeria Professional Football League, are facing a formidable challenge in their quest to win the inaugural African Football League competition. They have been drawn against Wydad Casablanca in the quarter-finals of this prestigious tournament.
Enyimba will go head-to-head with the winner of the quarter-final clash between TP Mazembe and Esperance. In another exciting pairing, Mamelodi Sundowns will face Petro de Luanda in the quarter-finals, with the victor set to meet the winner between Simba SC and Al Ahly in a potentially thrilling semi-final encounter.
It's worth noting that participation in the African Football League carries a significant fee of N529 million for the qualified clubs, emphasizing the importance and prestige of this newly established competition. Each match will be played over two legs, and the final is scheduled for November 5 and 11. The competition offers a substantial $10 million prize money for the ultimate champion. Enyimba will arrive Uyo in the coming days to begin preparation on their adopted homeground as Akwa United play in Eket for the time being and the People's Elephants will hope that their players -led by the return of Mbaoma can adapt quicly in time before the tie.
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