On Saturday, the 31st of May 2025, MBBS defeated the Department of Arts and Social Sciences Education (ASSE) to break the defending champions group stage curse and qualify for the knockout stages of the SEALS Cup ‘25. The first half was an exciting one, with both teams creating beautiful chances to score. MBBS struck first early in the game via Sir Dave’s header from Habeeb’s corner. After the goal, ASSE began to dominate the midfield, calling the MBBS defence into action. On the other end of the pitch, ASSE’s offside trap worked as Karbon and Hollandia were flagged offside on a number of occasions. Later on, an ASSE defender got injured but to the surprise of fans, there were no medics on ground to attend to him. He eventually recovered but soon after, he fouled Habeeb who later recovered. The remainder of the first half saw fouls by both teams and threatening attacks from the Education outfit. On one occasion, Istanbul had to block the ball twice to maintain his team’s lead. The first half ended with the score in the favour of the student doctors.
At the beginning of the second half, ASSE shot the ball towards the MBBS goal from kickoff. Istanbul blocked it but it seemed like his hand was involved in the process. This raised a demand for a penalty from the ASSE fans but the referee ignored it. Habeeb was injured again and this time, he had to leave the pitch. Teslim came on for him. MBBS created a chance to score but Karbon’s shot was blocked. ASSE responded immediately with an attack. As MBBS tried to clear the ball, an ASSE player got in the way and was hit. Fans called for a penalty once more but the referee gave MBBS a free kick instead.
A few minutes later, MBBS worked the ball to Karbon for their second goal. Prestige passed the ball to Teslim who laid it down for Karbon to finish. Karbon made no mistake, sending the ball into the far corner and off the post to extend his team’s lead. ASSE did not fail to convert their chance after catching the MBBS defence asleep to get one goal back. Later, Hollandia had to make way for Jide after contact that affected his wrist. ASSE threatened to strike again after hitting the woodwork from a beautiful shot but this led to a counterattack from MBBS. Jide found himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper but his initial shot was saved. He got to the ball again, this time with only the post in front of him, and he tapped in to restore the 2-goal lead for MBBS. ASSE were determined not to back down with debutant, Basiru Malik, running things in the defence and contributing to the attack. However, there was little time left, allowing the student doctors to get away with the win.
Speaking after the game, Sir Dave expressed his pride in the team’s doggedness and admitted that the expectations are high, but the team will deliver. “I am very proud of the team. We are known to be fighters and we did just that today. It is the first time in 3 years that the defending champions will make it out of the group stage, and I’m proud that the team has achieved this. The expectations are high and the mindset is always to go for the best. I believe that this time we are going to make the statement that we are the best in the University of Ibadan.”
The press also had a chat with Busari Malik who shone outstandingly for the Education outfit in his debut SEALS Cup game. According to him, the team is in the process of rebuilding and he expects more from them in the other competitions this session. “We are in the rebuilding process. Let me just put it like that. We are trying to build a young and vibrant team for the future. We have positives to take away from the competition even though we are out. We will correct ourselves for the second semester, ahead of other competitions.”
With this, MBBS have qualified for the Round of 16 on top of Group A with 7 points and +7 GD. With this, they are the first defending champions of the SEALS Cup to get past the group stage in 3 years. IPE have also automatically qualified for the Round of 16, regardless of the outcome of their match against Biochemistry. The game ended in a 1-all draw, with IPE finishing the group stage with 5 points and +1 GD. MBBS are now only 4 games away from potentially defending their title successfully.
