Akanni Elijah shows quality in NPFL debut

 

Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries teenage attacking midfielder, Akanni Elijah capped his Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) debut with a superb display in his team's 1-1 draw against Wikki Tourists FC in Matchday 9 rescheduled fixture decided at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Stadium, Bauchi.

The teenage player who has been looking forward to his first professional league appearance replaced creative midfielder Onuwa Chukwuka in MFM FC's squad against the Bauchi-based team and he was absolutely impressive in the middle of the park.

Akanni stamped his authority in the game with decent passes and fine foot work. He dribbled past his marker in the 45th minute of the encounter when he connected John Okolie with a lovely pass the latter was about to latch onto the ball but the referee sounded his whistle for offside.

Elijah's exploit led to MFM FC's only goal of the match when he initiated a counter-attacking move from the middle of the park in the 60th minute as he set Okolie up with a pass, Okolie in turn then laid the pass to Okorom, the defender's well-struck shot beat Wikki's goalkeeper, Emeka Nwabulu.

Reacting to questions from MFM FC Media team the young boy said: "I'm very happy. I'm very excited with this little opportunity given to me by the coaches and I really want to thank my teammates for giving me the privilege to be among them.

"With what I experienced yesterday I think I'm ready to face the challenges in the NPFL although it's not easy it is very hard but with the help of God and my teammates, I believe I will do better than this in other matches," he told mountaintopfc.com.

MFM FC who are still sitting in the third position on the NPFL table with 21 points from 11 league matches will host Plateau United on Sunday in their next league match in Lagos at the Soccer Temple, Agege Stadium.