AFCON 2025
Shooting Stars and Kano Pillars played a goalless draw at the Lekan Salami Stadium in Adamasingba, Ibadan, on Wednesday evening, closing out a rescheduled Nigeria Premier Football League fixture that offered little to cheer.
Both teams arrived desperate to shake off a poor spell. The Oluyole Warriors had failed to win in three outings, collecting two defeats and a draw, while the Masu Gida had stitched together three straight stalemates.
Ibadan’s faithful had good reason to hope for more. In the last meeting, Shooting Stars thrashed these same visitors 4-0. This time, the home crowd watched a flat contest, and many made no effort to hide their disappointment.
Chances were scarce. The best of them arrived in the ninth minute, when Friday Ubong met a delivery with his head, only for a defender to hack the ball off the line. Neither side found anything sharper over the remaining 80-odd minutes, and the points were shared.
Kano Pillars left with something to savour. They claimed a point in Ibadan for the first time in nine years and stretched their unbeaten run to seven matches.
For Shooting Stars, the draw deepened the gloom. A section of supporters gathered outside the stadium after the final whistle and demanded the removal of technical adviser Salisu Yusuf. A video circulating on X also showed fans hurling abuse at Sporting Director Adepoju Tobi Samuel as he left the ground, chanting “ole! ole!”, the Yoruba word for “thief”.
The Oluyole Warriors have now gone four matches without a win and sit 13th on the NPFL log with eight points from seven games. Kano Pillars climbed to sixth with 11 points from the same number of matches.
