Enyimba coach Fatai Osho has hailed his players’ performance after they bagged a second win on the road at Nasarawa United in a Match Day 8 encounter in the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) on Wednesday.

An own goal from Abdullahi Abubakar and a well-taken penalty by Cyril Olisema helped the 8-time NPFL Champions secure a 2-1 win in Lafia against Nasarawa United, whose goal came from forward Chinedu Ohanachom.

Despite being reduced to 10 men following the expulsion of midfielder Anthony Omaka for elbowing Ohanachom in the 62nd minute, the People’s Elephant held on, ‘sticking to their game plan’ to grab all three points.

“A lot of commendation goes to the players, a lot of hardwork there,” the former Remo Stars gaffer said after the victory. “There was a match plan and they stuck to it. The tactical discipline on their part is quite commendable.

“We know we have players who are very offensive-minded, and we have to instruct them to drop deep, thereby creating an attacking zone behind the defence of our opponents. And we were able to exploit that to a great extent. That resulted in some of the goals you saw today.

“After the goals, we defended. They stuck to what they were being told to do. We kept to the low line and every long ball they want ….was not getting behind us, we were able to defend it very well.

“I want to commend the players for a very good battle they’ve had.”

The win moved Enyimba to the top of the NPFL table, with 18points from 8 matches, three points clear of second-placed Rivers United, who have a game in hand.

Up next for Enyimba is a Match Day 9 fixture at home on Sunday against former champions Plateau United, who suffered a 1-0 loss at Warri Wolves on Wednesday.