Anambra hosted Inter Lagos in round four of the Nigeria National Professional Football League, and the visitors took all three points with a 1-0 victory. It was M. Ezekiel who put the game to bed early, striking in the eighteenth minute to give his side the lead they would not relinquish.
The goal came after a period of nervousness, and here's the thing — once Anambra went behind, the tone of the match shifted entirely. They threw bodies in the way, tried to keep Inter Lagos at arm's length, but the visitors held on grimly through a second half that grew increasingly edgy.
Discipline was poor on all sides. Anambra's defender picked up two bookings in five minutes, while Inter Lagos added another in the sixty-seventh and a final one in the seventy-third. To be fair, neither side dominated possession or created much clear-cut work, and the match was decided by a moment rather than sustained pressure.
Both clubs remain winless, which is perhaps the most telling detail of the day. Anambra sit eighteenth after two games with zero points, while Inter Lagos are twenty-first after three matches, also on zero. By then, the novelty of the new season has worn thin and results matter more than anything else.
The visitors arrive with a run of defeats — 0-3 against Sporting Lagos and 0-1 to Domah United — but this was different. They found a way through when it counted, and while one point does not make a campaign, it is a start. Anambra, meanwhile, must now confront the reality that their home record is not improving.