Tactically analysing Sporting Lagos’ 2-1 win over Abia Comets

Sporting Lagos raced to a fourth straight home win in the Nigeria National League, edging Abia Comets 2-1 at the Teslim Balogun Stadium.

The ‘Tech Boys’ as they are affectionately referred to had to come back from behind for the first time in their home games this season.

Their narrow defensive approach in the first half proved to be a mistake as it afforded Abia Comets space in wide areas through which they scored the first goal.

Head coach, Uche Okagbue admitted Sporting Lagos’ narrow defence in the first half was a human error which was corrected at halftime.

“It was the way the game was going in the first half, you know sometimes you train something and the boys play another thing on the pitch because of the intensity of the game,” Okagbue said.

On the offensive end of things, Sporting were very direct, especially in the first half where they often bypassed the midfield by launching attacks directly from the defence.

This often meant long passes by the centre-backs, Simeon Umeh and Ozaveshe Balogun as well as some counter-attacking long balls by the goalkeeper, Agbor Ekoi.

One such scenario was in the 44th minute when the Ekoi made a save and then launched a perfect ball forward to find striker, Chukwunia Ukoh isolated with the opposition goalkeeper after he had beaten the defenders for pace but the number nine squandered the chance.

By then Sporting had already levelled the scores through Naphtali Agada’s 31st-minute penalty and could have taken the lead in the first half but for several poor decisions in the final third.

Players opting to shoot when they had teammates in good positions for a cutback was a recurring theme for Sporting Lagos in the first half which ended 1-1.

The second half was less open and chances became harder to come by as right-back Justice Leyira was the only source of joy for Sporting Lagos in the second half.

The right full-back was constantly overlapping causing multiple problems for the Abia Comets defence which coach Okagbue admitted was an intentional tactical approach after the game.

“We saw that there was space on that side so we encouraged Justice to go forward and overlap and the other boy (the Sporting Lagos left-back) to stay back,” Coach Okagbue said.

When quizzed about the choice to overlap on the right but not on the left, the Sporting Lagos coach revealed Ramadan played a big role in the tactical approach.

“The left full-back (Usman Raji) is fasting so we needed him to stay back and manage his energy” were coach Okagbue’s final words regarding this game.

The coach did have a hand in the decisive moment as second-half substitute, Tochukwu Mbachu netted the late winner, displaying immaculate technique on a half volley into the top corner after Agada’s initial effort from a free-kick hit the wall.

From a tactical standpoint, this was Sporting Lagos’ best game yet in their short history, the pattern of play was clear and intentional which is not something constant in Nigerian football.