Relegation-threatened Kwara United Football Club of Ilorin on Monday defeated visiting Remo Stars FC of Sagan 2-1 in a lacklustre game.
TBI Africa said the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Match Day 21 fixture in the abridged 2018/2019 Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) was played at the Kwara Stadium Complex in Ilorin.
NAN also reports that both teams played as if nothing was at stake, with the tempo of the game very low in the early stages of the encounter, while the visitors enjoyed more possession.
NAN reports that Kwara United players and officials had earlier in the day protested at the state’s Ministry of Finance to press home a demand for their unpaid salaries and other entitlements.
Kwara United begun the game slowly and allowed Remo Stars to dominate possession from the flanks with Victor Mbaoma tormenting the hosts defence occasionally.
The hosts returned for the second stanza of the match now much better than the visitors with the introduction of Abdulrasaq Alamoyo and Abubakar Chindo to add bite upfront.
Abdullateef Ishola in goal for Kwara United made a big save in the 58th minute from an Mbaoma’s header, but conceded a corner kick in the process.
Mbaoma again timed himself in the 59th minute to connect with Omotayo Adebogun’s corner kick, but he blasted over the bar in the box.
Onwuasonaya Uche broke the deadlock in the 74th minute when his deflected curling effort went straight into the visitors’ net.
The hosts seemed to have found their rhythm as they pressed for more goals and were rewarded once more through a long range effort in the 79th minute of play by Alamoyo.
The young attacker well measured his effort, after noticing Remo Stars’ goalkeeper Emmanuel Fabiyi was off his line, lobbing the ball above him to make it 2-0.
Map soma reduced the tally in the extra time when he timed Adebogun’s low cross and tapped in from close range to make it 2-1.
Kwara United’s Chief Coach, Suleiman Ashifat, said the team would continue to fight till the end because there was plenty to play for on the last day of the season.
His Remo Stars’ counterpart, Precious Ogunmode, said they would also continue to fight till the end even though they were already relegated.
