Imade Osarenkhoe scored his fourth consecutive goal of the season as Bendel Insurance ran home riot to thrash Remo Stars 3-0 in the Matchday 4 of the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) on Saturday.
Prior to the game, the two sides had never beaten each other in the NPFL.
The last time the two clubs met in the topflight league was in the 2019 abridged season, with both legs ending in a stalemate and the two teams got relegated at the end of the campaign.
But at Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium on Saturday, it only took Bendel Insurance barely six minutes to find the net against Remo Stars, who were on a three-game clean-sheet streak, through Imade to put the host upfront. He tapped home a drop ball from Osas Okoro’s corner kick.
The HiFL product took his season’s goal tally to four in four matches as he leads the NPFL highest scorer’s chart.
In the 25th minute, Remo Stars were close to an equalizer through Okon Anekeme but his effort narrowly missed its target before Ismael Sarki grabbed his third goal of the campaign to double the lead for Benin Arsenal barely a minute later. Sarki pounced on a big howler by Goalkeeper Bankole Kayode to increase Insurance’s advantage.
In the opening ten minutes of the second half, Imade almost hit his brace of the evening, but the UNIBEN graduate’s effort was comfortably handled by Bankole Kayode.
In the closing minutes of the game, Divine Nwachukwu laid a backheel pass through to Austin Ogunye, who immediately latched the ball into the top corner of the net to seal the victory for Insurance.
The victory sent Bendel Insurance to the top of Group A with 12 points as they continued their perfect start in the campaign, while defeat was the Sky Blue Stars’ first loss of the season; they are now second in the group.
Elsewhere in Uyo, Akwa Ibom, Champions Rivers United continued their dominance over Dakkada FC by winning 2-1 at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium.
Isaac George gave the host the lead inside the first 20 minutes of the match before Nwangwa Nyima equalized for the Pride of Rivers in the 35th minute.
Naibe Akpesiri scored the winning goal just before the break to secure the win for Rivers United.
The result extended Rivers United Group B table lead to four points.
This article was most recently revised and updated 2 months ago
