Michael Olayiwola’s inspired substitutions helped Wonderxchange to a 3-2 win over Eleven Lions.

Wonderxchange had inspired substitutions by their coach to thank for securing victory. Against an Eleven Lions side who combined defensive solidity with good gamemanship, it was Onome Adepoju who stepped off the bench to make the difference and provided Hassan Musa with the match winning goal.

With the scores  tied at half time, the Coach had to switch things around early after the restart and brought on new players including Onome. Until Onome, Aremu and others came onto the field, Eleven Lions had been considerably comfortable as Wonderxchange made attempts to score on several occasions without seriously testing the keeper Ayeloja.

The dynamic of the game changed almost immediately after the substitutions were made. The team initially went a goal behind but Aremu who is making his second substitute appearance since rejoining Wonderxchange scored an incredible goal from outside the box three minutes later to draw the team back level. His appearance today was his third after rejoining the Lions with 2 of those appearances as a substitute and only 1 start.

 

Onome’s impact was even more effective. The wingback who put in a man of the match performance proved vital to the Lions’ comeback win. He made series of runs down the right flank causing the opponent’s defense much unrest with constant crosses into their 18-yard area. His major impact, he went on to assist what later turned out to be the team’s winning goal in the 76th minute after setting up Hassan Musa.

Musa put his left footed shot beyond the keeper’s big frame, and the Lions finally took the lead for the first time in the encounter. Onome had changed the whole picture, playing wide on the right and he almost helped the Lions secure a fourth goal as he was brought down in the box in the 90th minute, but the resulting  penalty kick was missed by skipper Ajeyomi Lekan.