NPFL: Late winner sinks Remo Stars at Rivers United as title race heats up

Rivers United scored a late winner to beat Remo Stars 1-0 in their Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) encounter at the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium in Port Harcourt on Sunday.

The top-of-the-table clash saw Rivers United battle the league leaders into submission towards the end of the encounter.

It was a tense encounter, and the first real chance did not arrive until the 20th minute via a River United team move that ended in a shot going off-target.

This spurred Rivers United on but they were denied the lead by a double goal-line clearance towards the end of the half.

A cross-cum-shot slipped through the goalkeeper’s hands but Anthony Ebuka was on hand to stop the ball from going towards the net before blocking the follow-up on the line.

Remo Stars introduced Franck Mawuena and Junior Nduka at the start of the second half and they improved the visitors but Rivers United’s defence was able to clear a near-certain goal, before both Samuel Anakwe and Tochukwu Raymond saw their efforts miss by inches.

Rivers United then made Remo Stars pay for the misses with the winning goal. Boluwaji Sholumade finished off a pin-point cross with a well-placed header for 1-0 on 84 minutes.

Rivers United held on for the precious three points that moved the second-placed club to 55 points from 32 matches, reducing Remo Stars’ lead at the top to five points albeit having played a match more than the leaders.

In other matches, Enyimba came from a goal down to claim a 2-1 victory over Abia Warriors.

Relegation-threatened Lobi Stars, winless in 14 league matches, ended a four-match losing streak with a 1-1 draw at home to Sunshine Stars.

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