By Dayo Awoniyi
Kwara United’s struggles in the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) continued on Sunday, as they were defeated 2-0 by Akwa United at the Rashidi Yekini Main Bowl, George Inih Stadium.
The home side’s woes were further compounded when defender Segun Adekunle was shown a straight red card for a foul that denied a clear goal-scoring opportunity.
Reduced to 10 men for the remainder of the match, Kwara United failed to recover from the setback.
Despite dominating possession in the first half, Kwara United squandered several clear chances. Wasiu Alalade, Issa Gatta, and Junior Aimufua all missed golden opportunities to put their side ahead.
In contrast, Akwa United, who are fighting to avoid relegation, made the most of Kwara’s wastefulness.
Akwa United opened the scoring from a free kick in the 58th minute, with Kabir Osoba pouncing on a rebound to give the visitors the lead. Uche Sabastine sealed the victory in the 79th minute, capitalizing on a mistake from Kwara United’s Akanni Akeem to score their second goal.
Kwara United head coach, Tunde Sanni, expressed frustration at his team’s inability to convert early opportunities.
“We should have won comfortably after the first 20 minutes. But my players wasted several chances, and we paid the price for it,” Sanni lamented after the match.
The defeat leaves Kwara United in 13th place on the NPFL standings, with 39 points. They will next face Nasarawa United in a fixture that has been rescheduled to Wednesday due to the upcoming Sallah celebrations.
Samuel Ahmadu is a distinguished multimedia journalist and women's football expert with over 15 years of experience in the industry. On the back of domestic engagement since 2008, he began his international career journey at Goal.com in February 2014, where he served as an African women's football correspondent for nearly eight years. During his tenure at Goal.com, Samuel covered major events such as three Women's Africa Cup of Nations (2016, 2018, 2022) and the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada plus 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. His work at Goal.com earned him widespread acclaim, particularly for his in-depth profiles of African football stars, notably Asisat Oshoala, whose rise he documented from her early years to her breakthrough at the FIFA U20 Women's World Cup in 2014. Prior to his role at Goal.com, Samuel freelanced for various print and broadcast media outlets in Nigeria, including Graphics Newspaper, Radio Nigeria, Grace FM, and Savid Newspaper. His extensive experience and expertise led to his appointment to the Nigeria Football Federation's Standing Committee on Women's Football Development from 2016 to 2018. Since February 2018, Samuel has been the Social Media Manager for Nigeria's women's national teams.In 2019, Samuel joined the Confederation of African Football (CAF) as a women's football content contributor and was promoted to Women's Football Editor in 2021. His contributions to women's football continued as he worked as a Media Consultant for Content Creation and Editorials at the 2022 CAF Women's Champions League. Currently, Samuel also serves as the spokesman for the Nigeria Women Football League, further solidifying his influence and dedication to the growth of women's football in Africa.
