Ten-man Rivers United on Wednesday picked a valuable point in the rescheduled MatchDay 10 fixture against Plateau United in Jos.
Chika Godwin stunned the home side in the 17th minute scoring from close range after Isah Ndala defensive blunder as he gifted Nelson Essor. Essor carefully placed a pass to Goodwin who walked the ball calmly beyond Chinedu Anozie in goal for Plateau.
The goal stunned the Jos side as they opened up from all angles but were unlucky not to have drawn level before the first half ended. It would turn a red day for Rivers United goal scorer, Goodwin who received the marching order after he was adjudged to have deliberately stamped his boot on Buhari Ibrahim in an off the ball incident.
Plateau picked up the pieces in the second half as coach Abdul Maikaba introduced Daniel Itodo, Daniel Jackson and Mike Zaruma to add pep to the attack while Stanley Eguma responded by throwing in Stephen Gooey and Konan Ruffin to curtail the rampaging Plateau side.
The pressure yielded result in the 79th minute as Joseph Onoja in attempt to clear off handled the ball in the box. Referee Fawole signalled for a foul and penalty for the home side.
Ibrahim Mustapha stepped forward to convert the kick to level up for Plateau and scoring his third goal for the team in as many matches.
Abdu Maikaba expressed satisfaction with the players performance in spite of picking a draw from the game.
“In as much as we were prepared for a win in this game, Rivers goal distabilised our game plan and we could have been ahead but poor marksmanship robbed us of scoring.
“However, the boys were able to remain focused and get the equaliser inspite of Rivers resilience. It’s not a bad result for us”
Eguma was also satisfied with the result of the game, describing the resilient and composure of his players as perfect inspite of playing with ten. “Kudos to the players for holding forth after the red card in the first half. Plateau is a good side and we acknowledge that but our game plan is for early goal which we secured through our game plan. “
Plateau United having secured a point in the rescheduled game is looking forward to do better against visiting MFM on Sunday.
