NPFL: 10-man Kwara United fall to Akwa United at home

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.