Rivers United Coach, Finidi George cut a frustrated figure in his post-match press conference, lamenting his team’s inability to find the back of the net despite creating clear-cut chances in their 1-0 loss to Defending Champions, Enugu Rangers on Sunday.
The loss at the Nnamdi Azikiwe stadium meant Rivers United conceded top spot to Remo Stars who defeated El-Kanemi Warriors 2-0. However, Finidi’s team are tied with the Sky Blue Stars on 29 points and are only behind on goal difference.
Enugu Rangers, motivated by the home fans, made a fast start to the game courtesy of Ugwueze Chinemerem’s header after a Rory Delap-esque long throw by Hillary Ekawu in the 16th minute to give the hosts the lead.
After the lead, Rangers retreated to defend their lead while Rivers came all out for an equalizer. The away side dominated possession and forced the home team into their own half, however, they did everything but score.
More Read
Speaking with the press after the game, Finidi reiterated that his team did well asides a few defensive lapses: “I think it was not a bad game, there were a few lapses defensively, I did not expect them to score from a throw-in but football being what it is, sometimes you might concede that way,” he said.
Finidi singled out his attackers for criticism, suggesting that they should have done better with their finishing: “I think before the goal we had a couple of chances that I expected our strikers to tap-in but that did not happen,” the Technical Manager stated.
Despite the result, Finidi remained optimistic about his team’s prospects, insisting that he saw positives in the game: “We have a lot of games to play and we will try to win our home matches. My team did well, we did not just get the goal we needed, so we will take the positives and go back home to see how we can improve,” he declared.
The Pride of Rivers will host Kwara United next at the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium as they attempt to bounce back from their recent defeat and reclaim top spot in the league.
© Bold Media Innovations & Creative Hub Limited. All rights reserved. If sharing, kindly credit Bold Sports as the source and include a link to the original post. Unauthorised use is prohibited.
