Just over a year after they were founded, Sporting Lagos have stunned fans by gaining promotion and winning the Naija Super 8 tournament.
Sporting Lagos went home with the Naija Super 8 trophy after a thrilling encounter with Remo Stars at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena, Soccernet.ng reports.
The South-West derby did not fail to deliver, after the anticipation was built up, on and off social media by fans of both teams, and they rallied in troops to the popular Onikan Stadium to watch their teams fight for the Naija Super 8 trophy. With an intent to win made clear by both coaches and with fans of both teams blowing their horns in support of their players, the effort on the pitch lived up to the mark.
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Kicking the occasion off with the national anthem, both teams played out in quite an unusual fashion as they'd usually do. Remo Stars kept misplacing passes and couldn't play out from the back, meanwhile, Sporting players couldn't get out of their own teammates' feet as they kept tangling with each other, but as the game grew, both teams got confident and it evened out, and in the nineteenth minute, a double effort from the Remo Stars attack was thwarted by the hands of Sporting's number one, Christian Nwoke, and both teams tried to contain each other as the first half ended.
The first goal of the game came in the fifty-third minute when a free kick from Chiemeka Nwokeji was met by Jonathan Alukwu, and was parried by Kayode Bankole, only to be rebounded by the eventual man of the match, Aliu Salawudeen, who made vital tackles at the other end of the pitch to keep the scoreline at a goal up in Sporting's favour.
In the dying moments of the second half, Adams Olamilekan came on to score from a cross, but the goal was ruled out for offside. His resilience would pay off, as he tapped hope from Sikiru Alimi's cross, seconds before the final whistle blew, and the game proceeded to a penalty shoot out.
Sporting were able to bring on their new signing, Junior Lokosa, who came on to score the first penalty Sporting had. Christian Nwoke however, proved to be the man of the moment, as he stepped up to help the Lagos side parry two penalty attempts away from goal, while the players did their bit, scoring all four of their penalties to leave the final score at 4-2.
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The coach of the Lagos side was filled with gratitude and went to the fans to applaud and thank them for their support after the game, meanwhile Remo Stars now have their sights set on the CAF Champions League.
