Ikorodu City stayed organized enough to keep an early goal lead to ensure they edged past Shooting Stars Sports Club (3SC) on a day that witnessed a low-scoring performance in the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) on Thursday. ‎Joseph Arumala fired home from a rebound inside the second minute of the Southwest Derby at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena in Lagos to earn City the bragging rights in the contest. ‎The win puts Ikorodu City in the top-three of the standings, three places ahead of 3SC. ‎‎The story is different for the defending champions Remo Stars who now find themselves in the relegation zone after defeat at Warri Wolves. ‎The champions suffered a 0-1 loss at the Southern Delta University Stadium in Ozoro after Chisom Orji netted the winner for Wolves on 52 minutes. ‎‎Remo Stars have dropped into the bottom-four following a poor run of form that has seen them win just twice in their last 10 NPFL matches (D1 L7). ‎New boys, Kun Khalifat FC, ended their winless run of seven matches with a 1-0 triumph over Kwara United. Chikamso Amaefula scored the winner on 52 minutes but they still remain bottom of the pile. ‎Two other games on Thursday ended goalless. ‎Bayelsa United and Niger Tornadoes shared the points in the day’s early kickoff while Bendel Insurance and Barau FC played out 0-0 at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin City.

Temitope Vincent put up a sterling performance as his goals ensured that Plateau United defeated Rangers International 2-1 at the New Jos Stadium in one of Wednesday’s fixtures in the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL). ‎Vincent opened scoring on 15 minutes after he was played through on goal by Hussain Abdallah and he held off his marker before lobbing the ball over Rangers goalkeeper Lucky Jimoh. ‎Plateau United’s lead lasted only 13 minutes when Rangers captain Chidiebere Nwobodo capitalized on poor defending from a corner kick to head in the equalizer. ‎Five minutes before halftime, Vincent restored Plateau United’s lead from the spot. The second half produced no goals as Gbenga Ogunbote’s men saw out their lead to climb out of the bottom-four. ‎‎Ahmed Musa was the hero as he scored the winner for Kano Pillars to edge past Katsina United 1-0 in Northwest Derby. ‎The win puts life back into Kano Pillars’ race for survival. ‎‎Enyimba and Wikki Tourists earned a point each at Nasarawa United and Abia Warriors. ‎Kalu Nweke scored from the spot on 73 minutes for Enyimba to equalize after JoFrank Istifanus had given Nasarawa United the lead in the 69th minute. Beforr then Istifanus had won a penalty for Nasarawa United but Samuel Pam’s kick was saved by Enyimba goalkeeper Kelvin Ogunga. ‎‎Wikki’s Taheer Abubakar returned to the Umuahia Township Stadium to deny his former club, Abia Warriors a win when he netted on 56 minutes to cancel Emeka Obioma’s goal five minutes earlier. ‎It is the second successive match that Abia Warriors have Vincent’s double lifts Plateau Utd, Ahmed Musa stars ‎Temitope Vincent put up a sterling performance as his goals ensured that Plateau United defeated Rangers International 2-1 at the New Jos Stadium in one of Wednesday’s fixtures in the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL). ‎‎Vincent opened scoring on 15 minutes after he was played through on goal by Hussain Abdallah and he held off his marker before lobbing the ball over Rangers goalkeeper Lucky Jimoh. ‎Plateau United’s lead lasted only 13 minutes when Rangers captain Chidiebere Nwobodo capitalized on poor defending from a corner kick to head in the equalizer. ‎‎Five minutes before halftime, Vincent restored Plateau United’s lead from the spot. The second half produced no goals as Gbenga Ogunbote’s men saw out their lead to climb out of the bottom-four. ‎Ahmed Musa was the hero as he scored the winner for Kano Pillars to edge past Katsina United 1-0 in Northwest Derby. ‎The win puts life back into Kano Pillars’ race for survival. ‎‎Enyimba and Wikki Tourists earned a point each at Nasarawa United and Abia Warriors. ‎Kalu Nweke scored from the spot on 73 minutes for Enyimba to equalize after JoFrank Istifanus had given Nasarawa United the lead in the 69th minute. Beforr then Istifanus had won a penalty for Nasarawa United but Samuel Pam’s kick was saved by Enyimba goalkeeper Kelvin Ogunga. ‎Wikki’s Taheer Abubakar returned to the Umuahia Township Stadium to deny his former club, Abia Warriors a win when he netted on 56 minutes to cancel Emeka Obioma’s goal five minutes earlier. ‎‎It is the second successive match that Abia Warriors have dropped points from winning positions. ‎‎The midweek schedule in the NPFL will be concluded on Thursday with five matches.

The first matches of 2026 in the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) produced interesting outcomes including Shooting Stars Sports Club (3SC) putting three past nine-time champions Enyimba on Wednesday. ‎‎In the reverse fixture just a little over two weeks ago, Enyimba fired three past 3SC with Chinedu Ufere, Edidiong Ezekiel and Chidera Michael accounting for the goals. ‎It was a different performance from the Oluyole Warriors as they beat Enyimba 3-0 at the Lekan Salami Stadium in Ibadan. ‎Lucky Emmanuel (17’), Sodiq Ibrahim (81’) and Qamar Adegoke (89’) got the goals that ensured 3SC moved up into fourth place. ‎‎In top spot and sitting six points clear of 3SC are Rivers United. Finidi George’s side made sure to maintain their four-point cushion at the top of the standings by grinding out a 0-0 draw at Rangers International. ‎‎Rivers United now have 38 points, four more than second-placed Abia Warriors who slipped at home after a 1-1 draw against Plateau United. ‎Returning to the dugout for the first since July 2025, Gbenga Ogunbote watched from the sidelines as Saka Gafar handed his Plateau United team the lead after eight minutes of action at the Umuahia Township Stadium before Emeka Obioma restored parity to help the Warriors secure a point. ‎‎Ikorodu City failed to gain ground on the top-two after suffering a 1-0 defeat at Remo Stars in the Southwest Derby. ‎Haruna Hadi scored the winning goal for the champions on 47 minutes. ‎‎In the early kickoff, Daddy Abdulrahman’s goal was enough for El-Kanemi Warriors to defeat Bayelsa United. ‎‎Uche Moses and Muhammad Umar got among the goals to help Barau FC to a 2-1 win over Niger Tornadoes at the Sani Abacha Stadium. Clinton Jephta scored for Niger Tornadoes on 65 minutes. ‎Bendel Insurance, Kano Pillars and Warri Wolves won on the road by identical 1-0 scorelines at Kwara United, Nasarawa United and Wikki Tourists respectively. ‎‎Emmanuel Akpan scored for Bendel Insurance while Chiedozie Okorie and Ezekiel Oroh accounted for the goals of Kano Pillars and Warri Wolves respectively. ‎Matchday 20 in the NPFL will be rounded off on Thursday when Katsina United play hosts to Kun Khalifat FC at the Sani Abacha Stadium.

‎Against the run of play, Nasarawa United suffered a 0-1 defeat at the hands of visiting Kano Pillars on Wednesday evening at the Lafia City Stadium. ‎The home team kick-started their second stanza of the 2025/26 Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) campaign behind closed doors following renovation works at some portions of the stadium, with high expectations of overturning their 3-0 away loss to the same opposition a fortnight ago in Kano. ‎Despite dominating possession throughout the encounter, the Solid Miners failed to capitalize on numerous scoring opportunities, with Umar Ada, Anas Yusuf, and Jofrank Istifanus each squandering glaring chances, which would ultimately give Chiedozie Okorie the luxury of space to score the decisive goal for Kano Pillars in the fiercely contested affair. ‎‎Wednesday’s loss, which is the first at home this season for the hosts, sees the Solid Miners drop to fifth position on the league table with 32 points, ten more points ahead of Pillars who are in 18th place, a development coach Mbwas Mangut described as a bitter pill to swallow as he expressed his disappointment. ‎‎Mangut believes his side deserved to take something out of the game for their superior performance but accepts dominating a game without precision in front of goal is “not just enough.” ‎‎”We were the better side today, but sometimes, that’s not just enough. ‎”We created chances, especially in the first-half, but we couldn’t finish them off, and they capitalized on the slip from our defender to score the goal that separated both sides. ‎‎”In fact, today’s defeat comes with a lot of pain because it’s the first time we are losing at home since the beginning of this season. ‎‎”We thought we could get a push up the ladder today, but it was rather a setback. However, the league is yet to be over. We will regroup and come back stronger in our next game, as I expect a different result. ‎”We acquired some new players and they are blending fast with the established players already.” ‎Nasarawa United will now focus on their next game against Niger Tornadoes this Sunday at the Lafia City Stadium.