River United beat Warri Wolves 2:0 in the National Professional Football League's third round of the regular season on Tuesday. The hosts moved to the top of their half of the table with two wins from two matches, while the visitors remain winless after two defeats.
A. Dabai opened the scoring in the twenty-second minute, and here's the thing — it was a goal that set the tone for the rest of the afternoon. Warri Wolves tried to respond but found themselves chasing the game from the first whistle. By then the visitors already looked uncomfortable, and they didn't recover.
There was a yellow card in the thirty-second minute for a challenge that could have been much worse, and S. Manyo picked up another booking just before halftime. The referee kept control of a match that could easily have got out of hand, though neither side offered much in terms of sustained pressure.
Both managers made changes in the sixty-ninth minute, bringing on W. Falolu and T. Zachariah at the same time. It felt like a mutual concession — neither side wanted to risk anything in the closing stages when the result was already in the bag.
C. Ugwueze added the second goal in the seventy-fifth minute, and to be fair, the visitors had no real answer. They had been outplayed from the start, and the gap in quality showed through when Dabai's opener broke their resistance.
River United's two wins from two matches puts them six points clear at third, while Warri Wolves sit at the bottom with nothing to show for their opening fixtures. The hosts will fancy their chances of mounting a serious challenge this season, and the visitors will need to turn things around quickly.
