Football
Dami Ugbane, Special to ESPN 7y

Akwa United miss chance to close gap at the top

Akwa United missed a big opportunity to close the four-point gap at the top of the Nigerian Professional Football League table after playing out an entertaining 1-1 draw at Rivers United, in a rescheduled match day 22 fixture on Wednesday.

Alhassan Ibrahim was arguably the biggest culprit for the visitors, after he failed to convert a penalty and missed another chance to score late on, opportunities which might come back to hunt third-place Akwa United in the title run-in.

There was a frantic start to the match, with both sides finding the back of the net in the opening 15 minutes, although the Rivers United missed a couple of early chances to take the lead themselves.

Guy Kuemian and Lukman Mohammed could both have given the hosts the lead early on but completely fluffed their efforts, much to the disappointment of the cheering home support.

Akwa United then took the lead through Musa Newman in the 11th minute in what was their first attack of the game, with the in-form forward capitalising on a dreadful Joseph Douhadji header to stun the host.

Rivers United responded within three minutes through Emeka Ogbugh, who scored his second goal in successive games.

Newman was again in the thick of the action when he won his team a penalty, which was saved by goalkeeper Sunday Rotimi off Alhassan's effort - the veteran stopper making up for giving away the foul with his first spot kick save of the season.

Akwa United should have won the game in the closing stages of the encounter when Gabriel Okechukwu combined with Alhassan to good effect, the latter firing agonisingly wide after dribbling past his marker.

The result represents a temporary relief for 12th-place Rivers United, who played three successive home games within seven days, picking up a win, draw and loss in that period, as they continue to hover above the relegation zone.

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