Rangers International’s title quest experienced a hiccup in Port Harcourt where they got spanked 2-0 by Rivers United in a Matchday 31 fixture played on Sunday.
A goal in either half of the highly entertaining fixture saw the ‘Pride of Rivers’ claim all three points from an Alex Oyowah nodded goal on 34 minutes and Deputy Echeta’s 79th minute strike after a quick interchange of passes.
Technical adviser of Rangers International, Fidelis Ilechukwu would later describe the defeat as a bad day for his team.
In a post-match presser, Ilechukwu noted that the two former league champions were at their best but that Rivers United had the upper hand through height advantage of their players enjoyed. He also blamed the pitch texture which he claimed to have denied his players the opportunity to execute their free-flowing play.
“I think it was a great game but it was not a good one for us. A terrible day. So many errors in the defense line. Our opponent had the advantage of so many tall players which gave them a lot of advantage and they deserved their win because they created a lot more chances against us and that is football for you.
“Hope is not lost as we still believe in what we can achieve this season. We have to go back home and work more in our areas of challenges,” said Ilechukwu, who guided the defunct MFM to second position in his first season in the NPFL years back.
Rangers started the encounter on a promising note with the quartet of Isaac Saviour, Kazeem Ogunleye, Ejike Ugochukwu, and Godwin Obaje pulling the strings in the early part of the match and could have taken the lead on seven minutes but Ekerette Udom blocked out Obaje’ goal-bound shot.
As the half wore on, the hosts settled into their stride to draw a big save from Detan Ogundare on 12 minutes while it was the turn of Sochima Victor in goal for the home side to beat out a Kazeem Ogunleye fierce shot at the quarter-hour mark.
Left-back, Kenneth Igboke put up a good show on the day with his fine runs down the flank and would have leveled the score for the Enugu side at 41 minutes but his shot was cleared.
In the second half, Rangers frantically sought to grab an equalizer but the efforts came to nought as the home side put to good us their physical size advantage. Rangers resorted to taking aims with long-range efforts that failed to trouble the backline of the home side except for Chukwudi Nwaodu and Kingsley Maduforo’ speculative shots on 85 and 89 minutes that were pushed out by the goalkeeper.
In defeat, Rangers has kept their place at the summit of the standings with 54 points and will next play Plateau United on Sunday, April 28, 2024, inside Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium, Enugu.