Akwa United head coach, Ayodeji Ayeni admitted that mistakes cost his side defeat to Bendel Insurance on Sunday night.
The Promise Keepers went down to a 2-0 defeat against Insurance in the opening fixture of the 2022/23 Nigeria Premier Football League season.
Two first-half goals by Imade Osehenkhoe and Sarki Ismael gave Insurance all three points in the game.
It was the visitors’ first away win in the NPFL since the 1-0 win over Sunshine Stars in the 2018/19 season.
Ayeni in a post-match press conference said, ‘’in the first half we were not coordinated, we were tensed, and my players were nervous and at some point, they were anxious to get things done in a hurry. It’s unfortunate that we made two mistakes and paid dearly for them because the mistakes cost us all three points.
‘’Football is a game of three results; win, lose or draw. Today we lost, and as a coach, it is a painful defeat for me, especially being our first home game of the season. We went into the game with lots of hope and there were lots of expectations, but it ended in favour of the visitors. Losing today is not the end, the most important thing is how we will respond and I believe we will bounce back in a bigger way.”
Akwa United will face Nasarawa United in their next NPFL game on Saturday, January 14 in Jos.
