It was a come-from-behind win for the wards of Coach Fidelis Ilechukwu of Rangers International F.C in a five goals thriller as Kano Pillars fell by 4-1 in a match day 5, NPFL 2023/2023 season at the Awka City Stadium, Saturday.
The visitors under the immediate past coach of Rangers, coach Abdu Maikaba, took an unlikely lead in 10 minutes when Muhammad Yakubu stabbed home from close range to send a shock wave around the stadium.
Godwin Obaje restored parity 22 minutes from the penalty spot after a handball incident and efforts by the home side to score more goals failed to yield dividends not for want of opportunities but for the brilliance of Muhammad Galadima the goalkeeper of Kano Pillars as both sides retired for the break on equal terms.
At the restart of the second half of the encounter, three quick goals off Isaac Saviour and two from the skipper of the side, Chukwudi Nwaodu on 54, 57, and 62 minutes took the game off the reach of the four-time league champions as Kazeem Ogunleye set up Saviour to stab home despite stiff challenge from the goalkeeper just as Nwaodu reacted the quickest to a spilled ball from the goalkeeper who failed to handle a fierce shot from Philip Clement before the skipper fired home another from the edge of the box.
More opportunities came the way of Chidiebere Nwobodo and Ifeanyi Ogba to further punish the visitors but they inexplicably squandered them.
After the match, chief coach of Rangers, Alli Suleman in a post-match chat described the win as a great morale booster to his team as they were able to shrug off the early slip to earn the big win stressing, “This is a very big win for us and we give God all the glory. It was a difficult match against a team with the immediate past coach of Rangers. We had to shrug of the early deficit and had a better second half where we killed off the game. We thank our supporters for being there for us even when we were behind. This win means a lot towards achieving our set targets for the season.”
Skipper of Rangers and two goals hero, Chukwudi Nwaodu said, ” It was a great win for us and we played against a big side in Kano Pillars. I am very happy for the goals I scored today and even much happier for the victory for our club, Rangers especially coming from a goal down to equalize and having the goals rush in the second half. At 0-1, I was positive that we would emerge victorious due largely to the fact that we had a team with young players filled with running energy. We push on for better results.”
With the win, Rangers now occupy the top spot of the twenty-team log with ten points from five matches, scoring ten goals and conceding six.
Rangers will next trade tackles with LOBI Stars F.C of Makurdi in match day 6 fixture slated for Thursday, November 2, 2023, at the Lafia Township Stadium, Nasarawa State.
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