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Daniel Itodo produced another throw-in assist as Plateau United reopened their five-point lead at the top of the Nigerian Professional Football League table as Enyimba comprehensively put Niger Tornadoes to the sword only to find themselves in a spot of bother. Going into the weekend with 10 games to go until the end of the Nigerian football season, action was expected to be fierce and so it proved. In this feature, KweséESPN pick out the key talking points from the weekend's action. Itodo throws league leaders back to top spot Itodo threw his way to an eighth assist of the season as Plateau United hammered 10-man Akwa United 3-0. The defender saw his long throw headed in by substitute striker Emeka Umeh with four minutes left of play to extend the home side's lead to 2-0 before Kabiru Umar turned in a stoppage-time free kick to make the game well and truly safe. Plateau came into the game having lost 1-0 to El-Kanemi Warriors to see their lead at the top cut to just two points by MFM FC. However, they wasted no time taking control, and were in front within 20 minutes when Ifeanyi Ifeanyi was adjudged to have handled and Emmanuel James despatched the resultant penalty. Akwa United have surged up the table in recent weeks, climbing all the way up to third and have an eye on the title. Despite their numerical disadvantage, the boys from Uyo were causing the league leaders all sorts of breakaway problems, until Itodo intervened with his throw in. The defender is now second on the assists table, with MFM FC's Sikiru Olatunbosun leading with nine.  Enyimba in costly suspension snafu Enyimba picked up the second three-goal win of the weekend, dismissing Niger Tornadoes 3-0 on the back of goals from Ikechukwu Ibenegbu, Chinonso Okonkwo and Stanley Dimgba. That win saw them jump four places to third on the log, seven points behind leaders Plateau United. However, there's a snag... Opening-goal hero Ibenegbu was supposed to be suspended for the game after accumulating five yellow cards, but played nonetheless. Tornadoes have protested to the LMC and both parties now await a ruling. If the league organizers rule against Enyimba, they will forfeit the game to Tornadoes. It's a shame, as Okonwo's third goal in two games would have to be nullified. Sunshine Stars heap woe on ABS Sunshine Stars posted the most significant win of the weekend, and perhaps the second half of the season so far, by downing ABS FC 4-2. Sikiru Alimi, Ajibola Otegbeye, Abiodun Joseph and Ezekiel Thompson all scored for Sunshine, while Samuel Oyedeji and Chukwuebuka Anaekwe got the goals for the hosts. With both sides still hovering over the relegation places, this could be a critical result for the duo. Sunshine moved up two places to 15th, while ABS dropped two places to 16th. It was ABS FC's fourth poor result on the spin, following a 2-0 reverse at 3SC, a 1-1 home draw with Kano Pillars and a 2-1 loss at MFM for a return of just one point out of 12. The club management were quick to respond, firing off a three-match ultimatum to coach Henry Makinwa and his team to win or get fired.  Okpotu chasing Odey Lobi Stars lost 2-1 at Katsina United, but striker Tony Okpotu is not letting up in his chase for the top scorer's award. He claimed Lobi's only goal to take his tally to 12, four goals behind leading scorer Stephen Odey. Odey has only scored once since the beginning of the second round, and passed up the opportunity to take a penalty two match days ago which would most probably have added to his tally. Abia Warriors' Sunday Adetunji also tied up with Okpotu, creating one and scoring one in his side's 2-0 defeat of Nasarawa United. Nasarawa goalkeeper Suraj Ayeleso failed to add to his league-leading clean-sheet tally, which he shares with Niger Tornadoes' Mustapha Aliko. Food poisoning hits Remo Stars No less than 10 Remo Stars players found themselves hospitalized after lunch on Sunday, forcing the club to appeal for a postponement of their fixture against FC Ifeanyi Ubah. Club officials say the players were diagnosed with food poisoning and would be unable to honour the match. It is as yet unclear how it happened, but club officials have told KweséESPN that an investigation would be undertaken to establish exactly what led to the incident.
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