Commercial Bank's rollercoaster trophy lift, Suleiman emerged top

Ethiopia Nigd Bank or Commercial Bank of Ethiopia - CBE rode the rollercoaster of emotions on Saturday to clinch their first Ethiopia Premier League title.

The League had scheduled both final games of the season simultaneously at Hawassa City.

Ethiopia Nigd Bank and Ethiopian insurance took to the Hawassa University Stadium while Mechal Sports and Dire Dawa City faced off at the Hawassa Artificial Stadium.

Ethiopia Nigd Bank scored very early in the 3rd minute through Suleiman Hamid much to the applause of their fans and immediately had the advantage at 1-0 and 4 points lead.

This news got to Mechal at the other stadium as they tried to get out of the gates early too, and they did in the 6th minute through none other than their inspirational leader, Minyilu Wondimu, 1-0, and cutting down the points lead down to one point.

There were no goals for another 27 minutes with Ethiopia Nigd Bank still holding on to their one-point lead.

Addis Gidey, so often the go to man for goals upfront scored a second goal for Ethiopia Nigd Bank on 33 minutes, 2-0 advantage now.

Both games at halftime were Ethiopian Insurance 0-2 Ethiopia Nigd Bank and Mechal Sports Club 1-0 Dire Dawa City

The second half of both games were nerve-wrecking for fans of the two rivals, more so for Mechal fans.

However, there were no more goals in either game as Ethiopia Nigd Bank wrapped up the most competitive Ethiopia Premier League title race that didn't involve either of Ethiopian football's powerhouse teams, St George, and Ethiopia Coffee.

It was a wild celebration for players, staff, and fans of Ethiopia Nigd Bank as they lifted the Ethiopia Premier League trophy

SULEIMAN EMERGES TOP SCORER

Hawassa City's 'Eritrean Striker, Ali Suleiman has emerged as the Ethiopia Premier League's top scorer for the 2023/24 season.

Suleiman scored a brace in the last match of the season for Hawassa in their week 30 fixture against Wolaitta Dicha and looks to have played his final game for "the Lakers"

This is because he is on the verge of a reported transfer to the Swedish League club, Göteborgs Atlet-och Idrottssällskap (Gais.)

This move will continue the trend of Ethiopia Premier League top scorers moving abroad with Mugib Kassim of Fasil City moving to Algeria, and Abubeker Nasir of Ethiopia Coffee moving to South Africa

The Eritrea International has had a spectacular season with at Hawassa City and had scored 18 goals before Wednesday's week 30th match.

He scored two goals on Wolaitta Dicha as the Lakers fans gave him a special gift at the end of the game

Ali previously played for Bahir Dar City before he joined Hawassa City.

His predecessor and closest rival in this race is Mechal's Minyelu Wondimu, who finished with 15 goals.

Minyilu Wondimu scored the only goal for Mechal Sports in their 1-0 win over Dire Dawa City on Saturday, but it wasn't enough as Mechal finished second to Ethiopia Nigd Bank in the title race.