By; PATRICK TITUS, Uyo
Coach of Akwa Utd FC of Uyo, Ayodeji Ajeni has said that the first-leg match of the 2022-23 Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) where his team lost 2-0 to Bendel Insurance FC on Sunday, came as a result of some mistakes made, which would soon be corrected.
Ajeni, who spoke with New Nigerian in Uyo after the match which was played at Nest of Champions, Uyo, on Sunday, said that Akwa Utd would get back on track as soon as possible..
‘’in the first half we were not coordinated, we were tensed, and my players were nervous and at some point, they were anxious to get things done in a hurry. It’s unfortunate that we made two mistakes and paid dearly for them because the mistakes cost us all three points.
‘’Football is a game of three results; win, lose or draw. Today we lost, and as a coach, it is a painful defeat for me, especially being our first home game of the season. We went into the game with lots of hope and there were lots of expectations, but it ended in favour of the visitors. Losing today is not the end, the most important thing is how we will respond and I believe we will bounce back in a bigger way.
‘’Our second-half performance was very impressive. We controlled the game and created lots of chances but we couldn’t score. Insurance was solid at the back. The goalkeeper (Amas Obasogie) made some excellent saves and we were unable to break them down at the back. In my opinion, it’s a game we should have won, but the only thing we didn’t do right was to get the ball into the back of the net and you can’t win if you don’t score.
Ayeni further added that his confidence in his squad remains intact:
‘’I still have confidence in my players, and having seen this game (against Insurance), we have to go back and work on all noticeable mistakes and ensure we correct them and hope to come back stronger in our next game’’.
Akwa United will on Saturday January 14, 2023 engage Nasarawa United on matchday 3 in Jos.
Early, Bendel Insurance Coach, Monday Oddigie had described the 2-0 win against host Akwa Utd as “faith smiling at the team” because according to him, Akwa Utd were more experience and matured than his team that is newly promoted to play NPFL.
