Alao Danbani scored in the 19th minute on Sunday to give hosts Kwara United Football Club of Ilorin a 1-0 victory over visiting Niger Tornadoes of Minna.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Match Day 15 fixture of the 2021/2022 Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) was played at the Kwara Stadium Complex in Ilorin.
Danbani scored with a half-volley off Abdulafeez Musa’s pass from the right flank.
The former ABS FC striker had scored four times in Kwara United’s last five games, including the goal in the 1-0 win over visiting Enyimba International of Aba on Feb. 16.
The entertaining North-Central derby lived up to expectations as both teams matched each other in a game dominated by lots of goalscoring chances from both teams.
Kwara United were made to defend with all their strength in the 38th minute when Hashim Shamsudeen ghosted past the hosts’ midfielders before being stopped by a more resilient backline.
Both sides returned from where they left it off in the first half and responded well to their half-time pep talk.
In the 68th minute, Sunday Akinmoladun’s back-pass to his goalkeeper, Lucky John, resulted in a corner-kick when the John failed to clear to safety.
Kwara United however missed a lot of goalscoring opportunities in the match and the team’s head coach, Abdullahi Biffo, said in a post-match interview that the trend was worrisome.
Kwara United players and fans appealed for a penalty kick in vain in the 74th minute.
This was after Kabiru Balogun’s delivery from a corner-kick appeared to have hit the arm of Sunday Akinmoladun, but the centre referee waved play on.
Speaking after the match, Biffo who rued his players’ missed opportunities said his job was to ensure that his boys scored to win matches.
Biffo said that one of his midfielders, who was in form last season and helped the team to score a lot of goals, had not replicated that form in the current season.
He said this was why his team had been struggling to score many goals.
His Niger Tornadoes’ counterpart, Abubakar Bala, on his part said his players gave a good account of themselves and fought very well against a strong opposition in Kwara United.
He explained that a more organised Kwara United made it difficult for his team to create goalscoring opportunities like they did in previous games.(NAN)
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