Plateau United FC of Jos on Sunday at the Rwang Pam Stadium defeated visiting Kano Pillars 2-0 to maintain the top spot of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL), with 25 points.
It was the leaders first victory over Pillars since the 2003-2004 season.
The match between the table toper and third on the log was even as both sides showed high football skills in the first 10 minutes of the encounter.
But United took the lead in the 14th minute when Ibe Johnson scored with a shot outside the penalty box.
Danladi Tsah, Pillars’ goalkeeper, did his best to stop the shot but the ball slipped through his palms and touched the back of the net.
The home side stepped up their game and made series of attempts but the visitor’s goalkeeper was at his best to stop the attempts on goal as the first half ended 1-0.
On resumption of proceedings in the second half, the visiting team was a constant threat in the defence of the home side in the first few minutes of the game.
Plateau United, however, doubled its lead in the 55th minute when Golbe Elisha headed in the second goal of the day.
The persistent threats by the visitors to at least reduce the deficit yielded no dividend as the match ended 2-0.
Plateau United Chief Coach, Kennedy Boboye, dedicated the victory to his players for giving their all to secure the three points against a good Kano Pillars side.
Boboye said that his boys played according to the game plan and were able to overcome the threats from the visitors.
He said that his side were more concerned about garnering as many points as possible.
“At end of the season, we count the points and see where we are; now our concern is our next match against MFM in Lagos,” he said.
For his part, Pillars Technical Adviser, Kadiri Ikhana laid part of the blame for his side’s defeat on poor officiating.
“The two teams played well but I think the officiating was a little bit unfair; outside that, it was good game.
“We have identified some things that went wrong and we are going to address them before our next match,” he said.
Plateau are on top of the table with 25 points, followed by El-Kanemi Warriors with 24 points.
MFM FC with two games in hand are third with 20 points. They however have the same points with Kano Pillars and ABS who are fourth and fifth after Day 13 Games.
Source – NAN
