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| Sunshine Stars of Akure |
Pillars will have substitute, Mohammed, who came on for Omo Johnson to thank for the winner which he drilled into the corner of the far post following a goalmouth tussle that left Sunshine Stars goalkeeper, Ikechukwu Ezenwa, with a poor view of the ball.
The Kano-based club almost doubled their lead in the 89th minute when Prince Aggreh received a through pass in the box with Ezenwa at his mercy but he chose not to pull the trigger, preferring instead to cut inside of a retreating Sunshine Stars defender who stuck out a leg to take the ball off him.
Sunshine Stars' late charge to remedy situation came to no avail as Dayo Ojo fired from range on three occasions in the 83rd, 84th and 88th minutes but Pillars keeper, Yusuf Mohammed, kept producing saves after saves.
The Pillars goalkeeper, Mohammed, proved to be the stumbling block for Sunshine Stars as he had also produced several such saves in the first half to nullify the chances that Sunshine Stars created.
The encounter was opened with Sunshine Samad Kadiri breaking in twice in the early minutes but Mohammed rushed out on those occasions to stop his shots just as Dayo Ojo's 25th minute strike was blocked by the Pillar' defence.
Sunday Abe attempted two brilliant free kicks in the first half but one found the side-net while Yusuf Mohammed parried the other for a corner kick. Lanky defender, Stephen Eze, also showed up for several corner kicks but his attempt in the 27th minute was also block off to the corner.
Sunshine Stars got close to drawing the first blood in the 70th minute as hard working substitute Dele Olorundare ran into a cross and nodded powerfully but his effort was returned by the bar.
It was a game in which Pillars demonstrated great tactical depth, keeping the pace under control, ensuring good presence in the midfield and measuring their movements on the attack while Sunshine Stars kept probing and getting no answers.
Kano Pillars have now moved into second place with 24 points while Sunshine Stars sit in 14th postion with seven points less.
