‘It was a collective effort’ – Kwara United’s Mohammed refuses to take credit for win

By Wale Mustapha

Technical Adviser of Kwara United, Azeez Mohammed has expressed relief after his team registered their first win of the season with a 2-1 victory over Akwa United in an Nigeria Premier Football League encounter on Wednesday.

Wasiu Alalade scored Kwara’s first goal of the season when his half volley from edge of the box beat Akwa keeper, Jean Efalla in the 14th minute but Cyril Olisema’s 68th minute effort leveled matters for the Promise Keepers.

With the tie heading to a stalemate, late substitute Ahmed Jimoh offered respite with his 88th minute match-winning strike and coach Mohammed has attributed the hard-fought win to his team’s resilience and commitment.

“I feel very great and I’m happy that the boys were able to get this victory, they met up with expectations,” the manager told NigeriaFootball.ng.

“They gave everything for this result with a lot of pressure pressure on them, the anxiety and the challenges, its a great win for us against a very tough and hard to crack opponent.”

When asked about his tactical changes that brought the win for Kwara United, Mohammed admits it was a timely tweak that paid off, while stressing that the win was a collective effort of the team.

“It was a collective effort, those that came in knew what they were supposed to do and they gave us the necessary three points,” he continued.

“Kabiru Balogun and Ahmed Jimoh did very well, kept their cool not withstanding the time they came in, they gave them (Akwa United) a difficult times and allowed us to penetrate them well, hopefully we continue from here,” he said.

Kwara United will be playing two consecutive away matches against Plateau United and Nasarawa United, but Mohammed is untroubled about the challenges ahead of his side away from home.

“It’s not new to us, its normal fixtures for us, we are playing all games as away games already this season, so I believe that mindset should help us to approach those matches better and get something good from it,” he assured.