I arrived home last night like i had assisted Atlas in carrying the world. It was a long day that involved a trip to see family at the west side of Lagos, the Agege Stadium to see MFM vs Enyimba, and a quick shopping exercise. I was spent when I arrived home but was happy at results from Agege and Wembley.
Wembley
Wembley provided Arsenal with their first trophy of the season and their third in pre-season. My friend Deon would call it “A Treble” after winning the cup in Shanghai, the Emirates Cup and the Community Shield. Haters will say it is pre-season.
The Gunners were without Sanchez and Mustafi – both allowed to arrive late this season. But the biggest surprise was the omission of Ozil, Ramsey and Koscienly. Ozil and Ramsey picked up knocks during training and were not risked.
Wembley is now synonymous with Arsenal wins and the Gunners didn’t disappoint. They fell behind just after the break via Victor Moses who got sent off when they met at same venue in the FA Cup final.
The Gunners responded in the 81st minute with a headed goal for new signing Saed Kolasinac who came on for Per Metersacker in the 32nd minute. The goal came seconds after Pedro was send off. The game ended 1-1 with penalty to act as the decider.
With the new ABBA system, Arsenal defeated Chelsea 4-1 on penalties. The Blues missed two kicks – one from Courtios who taught it was a goal kick and the other from new boy Morata. If he was under Mourinho, he may have been sold by noon today. Walcott, Monreal, Ox and Giroud converted their kicks for Arsenal.
Agege Stadium
My weekends are not complete without a dose of local football. The NPFL continued over the weekend with Matchday 33 fixtures. I was at the Agege Stadium where 7 time champions visited MFM FC who occupy the second spot with a hope of usurping Plateau United at the top.
It was the first live game to be shown on TV after SuperSport and the LMC had a face off which is yet to be written in black white. Whatever the face off was didn’t matter on Sunday as the game ended in a goalless draw. It was an exciting encounter but produced another draw. Can these two teams be separated?
While MFM FC failed to score in the first half, they were bamboozled and out-muscled in the second half. Enyimba’s Mfon Udoh missed opportunities to put Enyimba ahead but the home fans would not care. A 0-0 draw was accepted but kept them in the shadows of Plateau United who held their hosts Kano Pillars to a 1-1 draw.
There were incidents of violence in Bauchi in the match between Wikki Tourists and Rangers FC. There were also questionable officiating in Ijebu-Ode where Sunshine Stars edged Akwa United 1-0 via a debatable penalty. The LMC is expected to respond.
In all, it was a good weekend for me. Was it for you?
AmosCP
Photo-Credit: Arsenal.com; Enyimbafc.net
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