The Kun Khalifat Chronicle
Squad10 Feb 2042
Akpan Nsikak-Abong breaks a bone — 122 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 122 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match5 Feb 2042
Cup progress for Kun Khalifat
A 2‑0 win over Warri Wolves, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Player ratings10 Feb 2042
Peter Simon scores twice — 8.12
Two goals and a mark of 8.12 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings10 Feb 2042
Chukwueze Moffi could not have asked for more on his first appearance — 7.23
Debuts are survived rather than enjoyed. This one was enjoyed: 7.23, 0 goals, and a manager already being asked whether he starts again next week.
Player ratings10 Feb 2042
No sign of nerves from Stephen Ebuehi at 17 — 7.60
The hardest thing about being 17 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Stephen Ebuehi did not need any: 7.60, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Match8 Feb 2042
Still nobody has beaten Kun Khalifat
The unbeaten run reaches 8. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad10 Feb 2042
Akpan Nsikak-Abong in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kun Khalifat this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces10 Feb 2042
The crowd has taken to Taiwo Madu
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Player ratings10 Feb 2042
Kenneth Chukwueze shuts the door
Defensive actions: 20, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
In brief
- Squad Nnamdi Awoniyi signs a new deal
- Squad Moses Nwankwo falls out with a teammate over standards
- Match Odion Osayi-Samuel rescues a point for Kun Khalifat