By Toby Prince
Enyimba International suffered a disappointing 2-1 loss away to rivals, Heartland in Owerri, on Sunday – a defeat that put their hunt for the title in jeopardy.
The People’s Elephant who came into the Oriental Derby with a five-point lead at the summit of the log were surprisingly reduced to 10 men when Ifeanyi Anaemena was sent off for a second booking in the 38th minute.
Heartland capitalised on their numerical advantage, scoring the opener two minutes later through Fortune Omoniwari, but Enyimba responded through a penalty goal from Markson Ojobo on the stroke of half-time – his fifth goal from the spot this season.
Emeka Ogbugh restored parity for the host in the 62nd minute – the win thus push Erasmus Onuh’s side to seventh place on the log.
Despite the defeat, Enyimba remain top of the league with 58 points – three better than Warri Wolves who walloped Sunshine Stars 3-0 at Warri Township Stadium on Saturday.
Super Eagles striker Gbolahan Salami scored a hat-trick in the game and was voted Man of the Match for his exploits.
Wolves technical adviser, Paul Aigbogun, hailed his team’s performance stressing all is not over yet.
“We will keep working hard by giving a 100 percent in our remaining matches.
“We want to try to do better than last year so we have to keep working hard day in day out,” he said.
In other centres on Sunday , there were stalemates in Port Harcourt, Ibadan and Jos as the trio of Dolphins FC, Shooting Stars and Giwa FC failed to make their home advantage count.
The three centres also did not produce any goals as it all ended 0-0.
At the foot of the league, Kwara United staked claim for Premier League survival with a 2-1 win over Akwa United in Ilorin, while Wiki Tourist who are third on 54 points, compounded the woes of FC Taraba with a slim 1-0 victory in Bauchi.
Sharks failed to swim their way pass El-Kanemi Warriors as they further fell into relegation water with a 2-0 loss at Karkanda Stadium, Katsina.
Full results
Dolphins 0-0 FC Ifeanyi Ubah
El-Kanemi 2-0 Sharks
Wikki 1-0 FC Taraba
Shooting Stars 0-0 Bayelsa Utd
Nasarawa Utd 1-0 Lobi Stars
Kwara Utd 2-1 Akwa Utd
Giwa FC 0-0 Kano Pillars
Heartland 2-1 Enyimba
Abia Warriors 3-3 Rangers
Wolves 3-0 Sunshine Stars
