Rivers United, the league champions, were humiliated 2-1 by Nasarawa United on Sunday afternoon in their Nigeria Professional Football League match at the New Jos Township Stadium.
Although the visitors entered the game with a lot of enthusiasm, it only took Nasarawa United five minutes to score, courtesy of Sunday Okereke, who gave the home side the lead.
Ten minutes into the game, the visiting team should have tied the score, but Uche Onwuansanya was unable to score after forcing goalkeeper Danlani Umar to make an incredible save.
Uche Onwuansanya’s through ball put Akuneto in scoring position after 22 minutes of play, but the league’s leading goal scorer’s attempt was blocked by a Nasarawa Utd defender.
After the home team took a 1-0 advantage into halftime, Rivers United started the second half in search of a goal. Ishaq Kayode opted to go alone after finding himself in the box four minutes into the half, but his effort was cleared for a corner kick.
After 78 minutes, with Rivers United still striving to equalize, coach Stanley Eguma decided to spice up the game a little bit with the introduction of Sikiru Olatunbosun in place of Ishaq Kayode.
The substitution worked brilliantly as the Rivers United’s super sub equalized with a deserving goal to reignite the match.
Their jubilation was short-lived, though, as Tochukwu Udeh skillfully converted a 90th-minute penalty for Nasarawa Utd to reclaim the lead and secure all three points for his team.
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