By Aderonke Ojo
The Solid Miners, on Sunday, increased their unbeaten run to five games in a row.
Nasarawa United’s hitman and last season’s highest goalscorer award recipient, Anas Yusuf, converted a 32nd minute penalty to cancel out Wisdom Ebirim’s 19th minute goal for Rangers, as both sides went into the interval with an even scoreline, 1-1.
United pressured harder and got their winning goal in the 61st minute through an unlikely source, John Joshua, who clinically slotted home Anas Yusuf’s long cross into the box, throwing the Lafia City stadium filled with high-profile dignitaries led by the State Commissioner for Youth and Sports Development, Hon. kwanta Yakubu, and fans, into raptures.
Sunday’s result extended the Coach Mangut Mbwas-tutored United’s leadership on the league table, as they now have 19 points from eight games in the 2025/26 Nigeria Premier Football League Season, four points ahead of second-placed Abia Warriors.
The team will travel long kilometres to Lagos where they will battle 8th-placed Ikorodu City FC who have eleven points on Sunday, 19th October, 2025, before returning to Lafia to entertain last season’s league winners, Remo Stars.
POST-MATCH REACTIONS:
COACH MANGUT MBWAS(NAS): “I feel very happy with today’s result, more so that my team keeps improving everyday.
“Today’s game might not too be smooth, however, you don’t expect all the games to be the same always, because your opponents too will have their own time.
“It was a shaky first-half, but we regrouped and the response from my boys was positive, and we were able to get the second goal, which eventually gave us the win.
“We had some penalty calls but the referee is human, and there are instances where his decisions are final in the game. So, we leave that to him because he has his own judgement.
“I have different goalscorers in my team because I don’t build the team on a particular player. We train everyone to be a goalscorer and all of that. This makes the job easier for us.
“Against Ikorodu City FC in our next game, we have built the confidence of the team so much so that we can win anywhere.
“It’s a long journey by road to Lagos State, we hope that the authorities concerned will look into this and ease the stress and fatigue for us, even though we don’t want to be dwelling on excuses as we want to be self-motivated and pushy to get our set goals.
“As for a continental ambition, I think the league is still fresh, even though we have gathered some important points after match-day eight.
“But we desire to hover around the top three positions at the end of the current campaign.”
ANAS YUSUF(1ST GOALSCORER/NAS): “I feel happy to score my second goal for my club this season.
“I hope to keep scoring, and also pray that my team will continue to win more games so we could win the league this season.”
JOHN JOSHUA(2ND GOALSCORER/NAS): “I feel excited scoring the winning goal for my team today, my first goal this season.
“That goal was a practical implementation of what we do at trainings.
“The fans should expect more from the team and myself, going forward, as we will continue to give our all for the success of the team.”
CAUTION(YELLOW CARD):
Abubakar Abdullahi(NAS)35′
Alao Danbani(RAN)64′
NASARAWA UNITED LINE-UP: Ameh Godwin, Abubakar Abdullahi, Utake Emmanuel(Moses Tsetuan 85′), Victor John, Mubarak Hussaini, Chidera Nduka, Anas Yusuf(Akanni Lawal 80′), Jofrank Istifanus(Garba Mohammed 67′), John Joshua, Ekeson Okorie(Salomon Chigoziem 80′), Collins Onovughe(Ada Umar 67′).
UNUSED SUBS: Chinemerem Olughu, King Osanga, Ojo Johnson, Prince Ikemdinachi.