NPFL Match day 14 Group A review
Three outstanding matches took place during the week in the Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL). On Sunday, teams were back to their regular schedule. We look at the matches from Group A.
Wikki Tourists finally drew for the first time this season, against Lobi Stars on Thursday. In this round, they were once again at home in Bauchi this time taking on Remo Stars. And they started well, going into the break with a 1:0 lead, courtesy of Isa Gara.
The visitors showed some teeth in the second half and equalized in the 62nd minute through Victor Chidume’s first goal of the season. Still, the home fans managed to cheer their team to take the lead again on the 90-minute mark. Abdullahi Musa scored the winning goal.
Third win in five matches puts Wikki Tourists in fifth place in the table,, now just four points off the top. Remo Stars stay second to last.
Niger Tornadoes continued their woes away to Rivers United at the Yakubu Gowon Stadium in Port Harcourt. The hosts scored the only goal of the match 30 minutes into the game. Jimoh Wasiu got the decider, his third goal this season.
While Niger stay bottom of the table, Rivers United moved up to sixth, level on points with Wikki Tourists.
Rivers United FC (Twitter/Rivers United FC)
Kwara won an important match at home to Group A leaders MFM. The visitors did well to prevent the hosts from scoring in the first half. However, the home side found a way through in the 54th minute when Hashim Shamsudeen scored the all-important goal which turned out to be the winner.
Still at the top of the table, MFM is now just two points in front of Enugu Rangers in second. Kwara United use the win to move up to the eighth place, level with Katsina in seventh, but with a game in hand.
Even though unbeaten, Enyimba have now had four draws in the last five matches, which makes for a lot of lost points. In this round, they played out a goalless draw with Bendel Insurance. The hosts hang on to third in the table while Bendel stay ninth.
The only other unbeaten team in the last five games in Group A is Enugu Rangers. After three straight draws, they beat Katsina United at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium, but barely. They opened the scoring in the 17th minute through Pascal Seka. His was the only goal of the game.
The home side had to hold on in the last half an hour after they went down to 10 men in the 65th minute. With a better goal difference than Enyimba, they moved up to second in the table, a couple of points and four games behind MFM. Katsina United dropped to 7th in the table.
Not many goals were scored in this round across Group A and so was the case at the Aper Aku Stadium in Makurdi where Lobi Stars played Sunshine Stars. Once again it was a single goal which settled the match. Alimi Sikiru was the lucky scorer, getting his second goal this year in the 42nd minute of this match.
The defending champs Lobi Stars now sit in fourth place, two games behind the leaders. Sunshine Stars drop dangerously to 10th place.