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.
The match between the table toper and third on the log could be adjudged to be 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 result 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 side like Kano Pillars.
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 was more concerned about garnering as many points as possible.
Boboye said: “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.”
For his part, Pillars Technical Adviser, Kadiri Ikhana, laid part of the blame for his side’s defeat on poor officiating.
Ikhana said: “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.”
NAN.
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