The match day three of the Nigeria Premier Football League, NPFL, lived up to expectations as visiting Heartland FC of Owerri held Sunshine Stars of Akure to a 1-1 draw, Wakawaka Sports Extra reports.
The game which started with the host dominating possession and creating goal scoring chances didn’t produce any goal until the 42nd minute of action.
Skipper of the Owena Whales converted from the spot after Andrew Abalogu had handled the ball in his box to give his side the deserved lead at the break.
At the restart, the Heartland coach, Christian Obi brought in Ezekiel Bassey and Francis Erikan in search of the equaliser.
The visitors eventually levelled with fifteen minutes to play when Patrick Nwogbara slammed home from a set-piece that was whipped into the box by Christian Nnaemeka following a goal-keeper howler.
The Assistant Referee adjudged the ball to have crossed the line despite a goal-line clearance by a player of Sunshine Stars.
With four minutes left on the clock, Sunshine got another penalty after a clumsy tackle by Elvis Ori to bring down Aniete Ukoh. The eventual spot kick was missed by substitute Ibrahim Yusuf who hit the bar.
The frantic encounter came to an end as both sides shared the spoils in Akure to give the visitors their first away point while the host dropped two points for the first time at home.
In his post-match interview, Coach Obi said Heartland is a work in progress where they will work on areas such as conceding early in matches having come from two goals down to snatch a point in their first league game.
His counterpart, Edith Agoye said it was two points dropped and would work on ensuring his side’s profligacy in front of goal despite creating goal-scoring chances.
