Shooting Stars claimed three points from Katsina United with a 2-0 victory in the NPFL Regular Season - 5 on Wednesday evening. The hosts had not won since their opening day, and here's the thing — they finally ended a barren spell with two goals and a man advantage to show for it.
R. Olanrewaju opened the scoring in the eighteenth minute, a moment that pinned the visitors back from the opening whistle. Shooting Stars controlled the tempo with 62 per cent possession, though their shots rarely found the net early on. They registered seven shots on target by half-time but could only find the back of the net once.
The match turned at the sixtieth minute when A. Yallilo picked up two bookings in five minutes and was sent off. By then the visitors had already had nothing to do all evening, and the red card ended a night they had not wanted. One mistake ends it when you are down to ten men, and Yallilo's dismissal proved decisive.
Q. Adegoke added a second in the seventy-second to seal the result, and to be fair the visitors never really threatened after the dismissal. We had called for a home win with sixty per cent confidence before kick-off, and the game played out much as we expected. The visitors could not recover from the numerical disadvantage or the early deficit.
The statistics tell a story of dominance without conversion. Shooting Stars registered seven shots on target but scored twice, while Katsina United managed only one on target from thirty-nine attacks. The hosts also outplayed their opponents in total attacks, 71 to 39.
The hosts remain fifteenth with two games played and three points, while the visitors sit fourteenth after three matches and four points. The gap between them is narrow, but this result shifts the momentum after consecutive defeats for the home side.
