By Amaechi Agbo
Nasarawa United registered a large clean sheet win against stubborn Warri Wolves, dismantling the Delta State side by 3-0 on match-day 35 clash of the 2025/26 Nigeria Premier Football League clash decided at the Lafia City Stadium on Sunday evening.
Played behind closed doors following a two-match fan ban on the facility by the NPFL Organizers and a minute of silence held in honour of late former President of the Nigeria Football Federation, Alhaji Ibrahim Galadima, the Solid Miners took the lead in the 43rd minute of the first-half from the spot through Chimezie Victor after John Joshua was hacked down inside the box.
Substitute, Ngei Oluka-Efor increased the goal tally to 2-0 with a powerful strike after being fed with the ball by Mancha Sabbath in the 62nd minute.
Twelve minutes later, phenomenal midfielder, Habibu Alakija, who would later be voted Man-of-the-Match, completed the massacre with a breathtaking header that beat the intuition of the Wolves’ goalkeeper, Joke Efeverha, with substitute, Ifeanyi Okechukwu, credited for the assist.
3-0 was the full-time scoreline as the Solid Miners bounced back on the winning route, after suffering three consecutive defeats.
The win, however, could not propel them up the league ladder, as they remain on 6th position with 53 points, while Warri Wolves dropped to 17th spot with 43 points.
United will return to action against Shooting Stars in Ibadan in their next fixture, before coming back home to host neighbouring Plateau United.
The team will climax their league assignment this season with an away trip to Kano where they will be hosted by Barau FC.
POST-MATCH REACTIONS:
COACH MANGUT MBWAS(TA/NAS): “Congratulations to all of us in the team. It’s somewhat a relief for us because we brought ourselves to this situation, even though this is not where we wanted to be.
“We are worried that our title contenders are also winning their games away. We still have a lot of work to do with the remaining three matches left to end the current campaign to enable us achieve our goals.
“Obviously, nobody is happy with our current position, but we have further self-motivated ourselves, doing everything humanly possible to end in a decent position on the league table.
“Playing without the supporters and fans is difficult because they are the 12th player, and their motivation is very vital, but I am glad that my wards were able to weather the storm.
“The task before us in our next game against Shooting Stars in Ibadan is enormous because they are also title contenders. It’s going to be an explosive encounter, but we will work very hard towards it.
“We will fight till the end of the Season.”
HABIBU ALAKIJA(MOTM/NAS): “I thank God for scoring today for my team. The past three games had been really difficult for us.
“Not convinced with those three previous games, we resolved to redouble our efforts to return to winning ways, and alhamdulillah, we achieved that against a strong opposition like Warri Wolves today, despite the fact that we didn’t have our fans cheering us up due to the decision of the league organizers.
“I wish to keep scoring till the end of this season, to help my team achieve its set goals.”
CAUTION(YELLOW CARD):
Prince Ebhohon(WOL)14’
Kobiro Okote(WOL)55’
Chimezie Victor(NAS)58’
NASARAWA UNITED LINE-UP: Darlintin Ovunda, Abubakar Abdullahi, Sam Pam, Adekunle Oluwasegun, Victor John, Chidera Nduka, Ada Umar(Ngei Oluka-Efor 29’), John Joshua(Ifeanyi Okechukwu 63’), Chimezie Victor(Jofrank Istifanus 63’), Sabbath Mancha(Dauda Suleiman 63’), Habibu Alakija(Bright Amadi 78’).
UNUSED SUBS: Joshua Oladeji, Anthony Nwadioha, Mubarak Hussaini, Moyi Hassan.
Eche Amos(Fellow, CBS),
Director of Media,
Nasarawa United FC.
19/04/2026
