Bendel Insurance Stay Unbeaten After Dramatic 1-1 Draw With Rangers

Bendel Insurance extended their unbeaten run to five matches in the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) after playing out a 1-1 draw with Rangers International at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin City on Saturday.

The first half ended goalless as both sides struggled to find a breakthrough. It was Promise Anyanwu who finally put Insurance ahead late in the game with a composed finish nine minutes from time.

However, Insurance’s hopes of all three points were dashed deep into stoppage time. Rangers earned a late free-kick and Chidozie Iwundu’s delivery caused havoc in the box, resulting in a deflected own goal that restored parity for the visitors.

With the draw, Bendel Insurance moved to 14th place on the NPFL table with 20 points from 17 matches, while Rangers remained in fourth place on 26 points from the same number of games.

Editorial

In football, resilience is forged not in comfortable victories but in hard-fought moments where composure meets pressure and that was the story of Bendel Insurance’s stalemate with Rangers International. Extending an unbeaten streak to five games is no small feat in the abrasive theatre of the NPFL, where momentum swings on a knife-edge and small margins often decide outcomes.

The Benin Arsenal’s performance was emblematic of a team piecing together stability. For long periods, the match at Samuel Ogbemudia was an arm-wrestle, with neither side able to unlock the opposition’s defence. Then, when Promise Anyanwu broke the deadlock nine minutes from time it seemed as though Insurance might just claim a morale-boosting home win. That they were denied by a stoppage-time own goal said as much about the unpredictability of football as it did about Rangers’ refusal to surrender.

But this draw should not be reduced to the heartbreak of a late twist. In stretches where many teams collapse under mounting pressure, Insurance remained tactically disciplined and mentally engaged. Extending an unbeaten run is about consistency over time, not a single result in isolation and in that sense, this point is evidence of a club finding its stride.

For Insurance, the task now is to convert resilience into ambition to channel unbeaten runs into upward mobility on the table. If they can keep building from this kind of gritty performance, they may yet transform solidity into something loftier than survival. And in a league where narratives shift with every week, that would be the truest mark of progress.

Did You Know?

1. Bendel Insurance have now gone five matches unbeaten in the NPFL, a run that includes multiple draws and wins, showing consistent form over recent weeks.
2. The late leveller for Rangers was an own goal from Insurance’s defence deep into stoppage time, highlighting how quickly momentum can shift in Nigerian league matches.
3. Prior to this fixture, Bendel Insurance had climbed out of the relegation zone earlier in the season, showing signs of revival compared to early campaign struggles.
4. Rangers International, despite drawing here, remain in the NPFL’s top four, reflecting their strong start to the season compared to Bendel Insurance.
5. The result continues to show the competitive balance of the NPFL, where late drama whether from own goals or stoppage-time winners — has become a familiar and thrilling feature of the season.