The 14th round of fixtures of the Ethiopian premier league started taking place Today, as five stars Mekelle 70 Enderta run riot against Hawassa Ketema. Nigerian forward Okikiola Afolabi scored his first hat-trick for his new side.
The 2017/18 Ethiopian premier league goal king Okiki switched colors to represent the reigning champions Mekelle 70 Enderta this summer, but was seemingly struggling to get off the ground in the Northern Ethiopian side.
He opened his goal account wfor his new side in style a few weeks back, as he netted a brace in a match where the home side came out 2-1 winners against Sebeta Ketema. After that, he scored the winner against Sehul Shire, but his day ended in disappointment after he received a second yellow for his celebration.
Today, in a must-win game for Mekelle in their quest for a back to back league crown, they responded well after their awful recent form that saw them lose in two consecutive matches.
Okiki Afolabi was instrumental in their 5-1 victory, as he scored a hat-trick to ease the immense pressure on his shoulder for not scoring on a regular basis.
After the match he had an exclusive interview with Soccer Ethiopia, this is what he had to say
” I am very happy here in Mekelle, I am really feeling good. After my move here I didn’t score too many goals, but in football, such things happen. This just a normal thing as a striker; There are moments where you score goals and at times you seem to lose that momentum. Football is teamwork. you win or lose as a team. Now things have changed for better. Today am very happy, this is not my first time scoring a hat-trick in Ethiopia, I previously scored one in my stay at Jimma Aba Jiffar. But today was special as it was my first hat-trick for my new club.”
“I would like to dedicate the goals to my family as they are always with me through good and bad times. Hopefully, with the will of Allah, I want to continue scoring and help my team and also try my best to vie for the top scorer crown.”
© Soccer Ethiopia
