The much anticipated El Teleco of the NTG 2015 was a football thriller as both former Champions sought to dominate again.
The Match was a tale of two halves.
Etisalat clearly had the upper hand and all the best chances in the first half. The defending Champions went into the game determined to continue their new found dominance over the yellow boys of MTN. The had won the 2014 Championship by beating MTN by 3 un – replied goals in the final.
They controlled the game, and constantly pressed their opponents, they were however guilty of spurning gilt edged chances. The trio of Osere Osunbor, Yakub Kasim who had a great game and Captain Andrew Enebeli all missed goal scoring opportunities.
At the resumption of play in the second half, MTN regrouped and seemed to take over the game with the marauding run of Ifeanyi Egwim and Alichie Iheukwumere.
The game was evenly balanced until the 17th minute of the second half when Adekunle Kunyinu of MTN rose highest to head home a corner kick from Ifeanyi Egwim and suddenly the game came to life.
Defending Champions, Etisalat tried to get back into the game after the goal but the Yellow boys were overwhelming. The second goal soon came in when last year’s highest goal scorer, Aliche Ihekwumere calmly slot in his first goal of the season. This presented a daunting task for Etisalat as they rallied round again to salvage at least a point from the game.
However, this was not to be as a counter attack led by Ifeanyi and Alichie set up substitute, Abdultabar Adeleke and his shot found the back of the net. That sealed it for MTN as the match ended 3-0 in favor of the Yellow Boys. MTN now has 6 points from two (2) matches and sit at top of the table.
The MTN vs Etisalat El Teleco Series has now witnessed 9 matches since 2011. MTN has won 6 while Etisalat have 3 wins.
P | W | L | D | GF | GA | PT | |
MTN | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 6 |
IHS | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
AIRTEL | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
ETISALAT | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
LM Ericsson | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |