Sporting Lagos boss Buter demands better finishing after Ikorodu City stalemate

Sporting Lagos head coach Jeffery Buter says his side must improve in front of goal after they were held to a goalless draw by Ikorodu City in a fiercely contested Lagos Derby at a packed Mobolaji Johnson Arena, Onikan.

The result extended Sporting Lagos’ frustrating run of missed chances, with Buter acknowledging that his team are creating opportunities without converting enough of them. However, he insisted Sporting Lagos were the better side and should have taken all three points.

“We have to work, we have to work on finishing. I think on Monday and Tuesday we did a lot of finishing exercises. We know that we are not converting as much as we are creating, but it’s a non-stop work,” Jeffery said.

Sporting Lagos struggled to break through a determined Ikorodu City defence, although Buter said the visitors’ approach had been anticipated before kick-off.

He explained that Ikorodu City applied an aggressive press during the opening phase of the match, attempting to prevent Sporting Lagos from establishing their normal passing rhythm.

“In the first phase, they were aggressive in their pressing. They committed early on, but we expected it,” he said.

Buter added that Sporting Lagos had planned to target the space behind the Ikorodu City defence after studying their previous match against Rangers.

The approach led Sporting Lagos to use more long balls than usual, as they looked to bypass the press and exploit the gaps left by Ikorodu City’s defensive positioning.

“Seeing how they played their last game versus Rangers, the plan was always to exploit the spaces behind them. If you watch, we played a lot of long balls today, which is unusual for us, but it was about exploiting those spaces.”

Although he praised Ikorodu City for their disciplined defensive performance, Buter maintained that the balance of play favoured his team.

The coach said Sporting Lagos had done enough to win the derby and felt there were no unusual circumstances affecting the outcome.

“I think, overall assessment for me, we were still the better team today. We should have won, the circumstances were neutral,” he concluded.

The draw leaves Sporting Lagos with a clear area to address as they continue their Nigeria Professional Football League campaign: turning the chances they create into goals.