Vandrezzer Football Club made history on Tuesday afternoon, beating Box 2 Box FC 1-0 to emerge champions of the 2021 Lagos FA Cup at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos.
Tournament highest goalscorer, Olalekan Abdulsalam’s 79th minute strike was the goal needed to create history for the Lions of Naija.
Star Coach, Yemi Daniel who has taken charge of the team in the absence of Head Coach, Tony Bolus in this tournament, made just one change to the starting XI that thrashed Smart City in the semi final, with Lekan starting in place of Saheed Obisesan.
The first half was cagey for both sides, with Box2Box determined to stop VFC from playing, with heavy tackles flying in the early exchanges. Mercurial midfielder, Isaac Saviour was at the receiving end of a dangerous tackle inside the opening 10 minutes, after a Box2Box player launched a dangerous tackle in from behind, and left Isaac unconscious for some minutes which attracted a yellow card.
Thankfully, Saviour returned to the match after receiving treatment by the VFC medics for few minutes.
VFC weathered the storm and settled in nicely before the end of the half, with Lekan coming close to scoring with a half volley from Gideon.
As the half ended goalless, VFC came back in the second half determined to make up for the first 45 minutes, with Ebuka replacing Gideon Monday.
Ebuka had a pop from the edge of the box which went close to opening the scoring, but the effort was deflected out for a corner kick.
With Box2Box playing to frustrate VFC flow, disrupting rhythm, and delaying proceedings at every given opportunity, Ebuka again had a chance when he was played through by Saheed after neat play with Somtochukwu, only to see his effort well saved by the goalkeeper.
The breakthrough came in the 79th minute from a corner kick from full back Kingsley Akpan, his cross was cleared off the post to the path of Lekan, the forward smartly turned and smash the ball past the goalkeeper into the net for his fourth goal of the tournament in just five outings.
Box2Box suspended all their delaying tactics and came out searching for an equalizer, which was unlikely and Lekan almost grabbed a second for VFC, linking well with Somtochukwu in the closing stages of the game.
VFC players, officials and fans in the stadium were already celebrating as the centre referee sounded the final whistle at the Teslim Balogun Satadium, Lagos.
With this victory, Vandrezzer FC have become the first team in history to win the Lagos FA Cup at first attempt.
The two year old team is also the 12th team to win the prestigious Lagos FA Cup since the competition’s inception in 1965, and are now the state’s flag-bearers in the 2022 Federation/AITEO/Cup.
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