Enyimba have been dumped out of the 2019 Federation Cup following a 3-2 defeat suffered at the hands of non-league side Smart City on Wednesday at the University of Benin Sports Complex.
The People’s Elephant recently won an unprecedented eighth league title and were hoping for a domestic double but that came to an end in Wednesday's Round of 32 clash against the Lagos State FA Cup champions.
Bashiru Kareem gave Smart City the lead in the 17th minute but the People's Elephant were back on level terms after Tunde Adejoku, unfortunately, turned the ball into his own net.
However, the Lagos FA Cup champions swiftly regained the lead barely three minutes later, as John Gini ensured that the first half ended 2-1 in favour of the giant-killers from Lagos.
Coach Usman Abd’Allah tried to rescue the situation for his team in the second half as he brought in some of his top players who started on the bench.
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Substitute Abdulrahman Bashir was able to restore parity for Enyimba when he found the back of the net in the 64th minute but Smart City remained resolute in their mission and 10 minutes later they were back in front.
Abduljabar Umar made it 3-2 for Smart City and they held on to that slim lead until the final whistle as Enyimba were edged out in a five-goal thriller in Benin on Wednesday.
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