Football
Colin Udoh, Special to ESPN 7y

Stephen Odey on target for Mfon Udoh's record

Stephen Odey stayed in the hunt for Mfon Udoh's league goalscoring record, but it was otherwise fairly predictable this past weekend in the Nigeria Professional Football League.

That said, it was anything but routine for struggling Sunshine Stars, who lost at home to Nasarawa United, while Rivers United escaped with a point from Ilorin.

Here are four observations from the weekend games.

ODEY ADDS TO TALLY

Odey scored his second goal of the back half of the season to help MFM FC slice Plateau United's lead at the top of the NPFL table to just two points, thus cranking up the intensity of the title race.

More importantly, it took the striker to within six goals of Udoh's 23-goal record for the Nigerian domestic competition, with nine games still to play.

Odey told the media afterwards that he was more focused on winning the league title with MFM than launching an assault in Udoh's record, but with a posse of forwards lining up behind him in the standings, he may have been downplaying his ambitions.

At his current strike rate, it is doubtful Odey will reach the target. Two strikes in his last 11 matches is a poor return for a striker who smashed in 15 in the opening 18 games.

OBAJE CREEPS UP

While Odey is struggling to find goals, it's the opposite story for last season's top scorer, Godwin Obaje.

After a late start, when he returned from an unsuccessful bid to join a club abroad, Obaje has shifted into gear and finds himself just five goals behind the league leader.

His lone goal secured all three points for FC Ifeanyi Ubah against visiting Enyimba in a bad-tempered derby match. That was the striker's third goal in as many games.

A similar late run saw the forward clinch the league's goalscorer award last term, and with Ifeanyi Ubah in good form, he could well be in a position to overtake Odey if the MFM FC man continues his miserable second half scoring rate.

SQUEEZE TIGHTENS ON SUNSHINE

The signs looked promising for Sunshine Stars going into the weekend's games. First, league organizers lifted the spectator ban on the club, allowing them to admit fans into the grounds for a probationary two-game period.

This followed a top-brass ultimatum handed to the coaches to get full points from their next three games or face dire consequences. Those two events should have provided the spur for the club to charge to a win in front of their home fans.

Instead, it ended terribly. Abdulrahman Bashir scored just before halftime as Nasarawa United held on to win 1-0, and claim their first road win of the season.

A home game that should have helped Sunshine Stars put some distance between themselves and the relegation places instead left them tied on 36 points, the same as fourth-from-bottom Rangers, with only goal difference separating Stars from the struggling champions.

If they fail to get a result this weekend at Rivers United, that could see their goose well and truly cooked. Coach Duke Udi should probably update his CV, just in case.

RIVERS LATE END HEARTBREAK HOODOO

During the course of this season, Rivers United have continually suffered from an inability to keep out late goals. In both domestic and continental competition, the tale of late heartbreak has been the one constant feature of the club's campaign.

This weekend, they broke the hoodoo at ABS, with help of inspired goalkeeping by Abiodun Akande. The club from Port Harcourt rode their luck for much of the encounter, and created more than a few opportunities to steal a win, but failed to convert.

United came close to suffering late disappointment once again, but Muiz Adeoti found himself thwarted twice in stoppage time by Akande.

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