Enyimba International FC of Aba on Sunday defeated visiting Kwara United FC of Ilorin 3-1 in the ongoing Nigeria Premier Football League match-day 17.

The match played at the Enyimba FC Stadium, Aba, saw Samuel Agu net the first goal for the People’s Elephant in the 25th minute.

The match appeared to be living up to the expectations when Gidado Toyeeb equalised for the visitors in the 31st minute, to end the first 45 minutes on a 1-1 draw.

Michael Chidera picked up the gauntlet to make it 2-1 for Enyimba in the 57th minute before netting his second goal to make it 3-1 through a miscalculated pass from the visitors’ goalkeeper, Nurudeen Badmus, to his defender.

Speaking during a post-match interview, Enyimba Coach Lawrence Ukaegbu said the game went as expected.

“Though errors are part of the game of football, and the goalkeeper did not just commit the errors, we forced him to do that because of the pressure we mounted on them.

“We are expecting nine points from the remaining three matches of the first stanza, and we will continue to create chances for goals, so our next match will not be an exception,” Ukaegbu said.

Ukaegbu said his team would adopt a different approach in their match-day 18 encounter against El-Kanemi Warriors of Maiduguri.

Kwara United coach Ashifat Suleiman said his team lost the game and cannot continue to dwell on the bad day.

“It is a game, and at times, it is like that. However, many things worked against us today. Our two key players got injured before the match.

“Secondly, our goalkeeper committed two errors that led to the first and the third goal; in fact, today is his off day.

“We must fix the loopholes before our match-day 18 against Bayelsa United because our fans deserve the best,” Suleiman said.

As a result, Enyimba now occupy 8th place on the league table with 23 points, while Kwara United dropped to 12th place with 21 points after 17 matches.

Below are the results of Match Day 17 fixtures in the 2025/2026 Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) played on Sunday.

Kun Khalifat FC 0-1 Abia Warriors  FC

Bayelsa United FC 2-1 Remo Stars FC

Warri Wolves FC 0-0  Kano Pillars FC

Barau  FC  0-1 Shooting Star FC

Enyimba International FC  3-1 Kwara United FC

Plateau United FC 0-0 Nasarawa United FC

Niger Tornadoes FC 3-0 El-Kanemi Warriors

Match day 17 fixtures played on Saturday

Bendel Insurance FC 1-1 Enugu Rangers International FC.

Outstanding match day 17 fixtures

Ikorodu City FC vs Katsina United FC

Rivers United FC vs Wikki Tourists FC, to be played on December 15.

(NAN)