Champions of the Nigeria Professional Football League Akwa United on Sunday began their title defense with a 3-0 victory over Kano Pillars at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo.
Ezekiel Bassey bundled in Stephen Chukwude’s flick-on at the far post to give
kano pillarsthe Promise Keepers the lead in first-half stoppage time.
Coach Kennedy Boboye’s team doubled their lead in the 53rd minute when Stephen Chukwude slotted Ubong Friday’s low cross past Kano Pillars goalkeeper Bassey Akpan.
Ubong Friday then added the cherry on top during stoppage time. The winger outwitted Bassey Akpan with a long pass from John Lazarus before tucking the ball into an empty net to seal a resounding victory for the defending Champions.
Coach Kennedy Boboye congratulated his team on the victory and stated that his team’s attention is now focused on the next game in a post-match press conference.
“We are pleased that we were able to take all three points from this game.” “We were determined to win and worked tirelessly to achieve our goal.” Kano Pillars are a strong team, and we needed to be at our best to beat them, even though they improved in the second half. We played them in the Presidential Cup Pre-season tournament in Abuja, so we went into the game with a game plan, which worked for us. I’d like to thank my players and all of our fans for their tremendous support. We hope to keep working hard so that we can defend our title at the end of the season.”
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Akwa United won their opening day fixture for the first time in six seasons, and the win on Sunday was their eighth consecutive home victory over Kano Pillars.
Coach Boboye started four new signings in the starting lineup: James Ajako, Denis Nya, Stephen Chukwude, and Ezekiel Bassey, and they delivered in a commanding performance and a resounding victory.
Ubong Friday was named Man-of-the-Match after scoring one goal and assisting another. This weekend, Akwa United will travel to Ibadan to face Shooting Stars Sports Club (3SC) on Match-day 2 on Sunday, December 25, and face Gombe United at the Nest of Champions on December 29 in Uyo
Akwa United failed to defend their position on the continent as they were sent home from the CAF champions league in the first leg of the first round in the competition.
