Africa

SPORTING Lagos FC on Sunday secured a hard fought victory over visiting Niger Tornadoes to secure their second home in the Match Day 5 of Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) on Sunday.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the well attended late night football showpiece between the Tech Boys of Lagos and Ikon Allah Boys was played at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena, Lagos.

Sporting Lagos FC started the match on a positive note dominating the match in the first half and were rewarded with a goal through a fine counter attacking play, which Jonathan Alukwu slotted home in the 27th minute.

Former NPFL goal king, Junior Lokosa, however, doubled his side’s lead in the 45th minute, to finish the first half with a two goal lead.

The visitors, however, re-grouped in the second half with the new entrant Yahuza Bala reducing the tally to 2-1 in the 67th minute after a beautiful combination with Bashir Usman.

Bala continued to be a thorn in the flesh of the Tech Boys and was rewarded with a goal, but the centre referee after consulting with his assistant disallowed what could have been Bala’s equaliser for offside.

The man of the match, Lokosa, praised the team’s spirit for the hard earned win.

“I will say it was a good fight, my reaction does not matter because it was team’s play that earned us the three points.

“I am happy to have contributed my own part to the win in spite of poor results in our last two matches.

“The fans are always behind us, but we should understand that we also have some injury concerns, which I thank God we are getting over now,” he said.

The distraught Chairman of Niger Tornadoes, Adamu Aliyu, blamed his side’s loss to poor officiating.

“I am not satisfied with the officiating at all, you all saw what played out as the assistant referee cheated us with a clean goal.

“The game should have been ours, this is a setback not only to Niger Tornadoes but Nigerian football. We should do better with officiating league matches.

“How can we grow our football with this type of bad officiating,” he queried.

NAN reports that Sporting Lagos FC will travel to Ilorin to face Kwara United FC for the mid-week Match Day 6 fixture. (NAN)

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-October 30, 2023 @ 11:45 GMT |

Tags: Junior Lokosa