Alhassan Ibrahim inspires Akwa United to their third win
____scores his fourth goal of the season
____scores his fourth goal of the season
Midfielder Alhassan Ibrahim scored twice in the first half and also provided an assist in the second half as Akwa United recorded an emphatic 3-1 win over struggling Abia Warriors of Umuahia on a Match Day Ten encounter played at the Godswill Akpabio International stadium in Uyo on Saturday.
The creative midfielder broke the deadlock in the 9th minutes, Abia Warriors equalized through Sunday Adetunji in the 32nd minutes before Alhassan completed his brace a minute before half time following brilliant midfield build up by his team mates.
Five minutes into the second half, Alhassan then turned provider and assisted winger Moses Ebiye who put the match beyond the visitors with his first goal for Akwa United.
After taking the lead, the Promise Keepers had several clear cut chances in the first half to increase their tally but were unable to effectively utilized their chances before the visitors who rarely threatened level up the scores in the 32nd minutes.
Coach Maikaba's boys regained control after conceding and quick exchange of passes between Ifeanyi Ifeanyi, Aremu Afeez, Musa Newman and Ubong Friday resulted in Alhassan scoring his second goal of the match, and his fourth goal of the season as Akwa United went into the break with a 2-1 lead.
On resumption of play, the home side continued where they left off and mounted serious pressure on their poor visitors who looked disjointed most of the afternoon.
When Moses Ebiye scored from Alhassan's pass the opponents had no response as they slumped to their fifth defeat of the season.
The result could have been worst for the visitors in the closing minutes of the game, but Newman, Ebiye and Pyagbara all missed great opportunities to add to their opponent's woes.
Few minutes before the start of the game, Coach Abdul Maikaba made changes to his staring line up replacing Ishmailia Shagari with Emmanuel Iwu in goal and Moses Ebiye was preferred to Christian Pyagbara in the attack.
Iwu and Ebiye were making a return to the starting line up after they both missed the match against Gombe United on Match Day Nine in which the Promise Keepers forced their host to a goalless draw.
Abia Warriors arrived Uyo with lots of determination following their 1-2 victory last season against their host, but the Umuahia based side were undone by their poor form this season which saw them lost their last home game to El Kanemi Warriors on Match Day Nine.
But it was Akwa United's midfield star Alhassan Ibrahim who stole the show throughout the match with two superb goals and an assist, a performance which earned him his fourth Man of the Match Award.
The victory was the Promise Keepers third win of the season and they now have thirteen points from ten matches.
The 2015 Federation Cup Champions who have won three, drawn four and lost three matches will next travel to Nasarawa for a date with Nasarawa United on Match Day Eleven fixture in midweek.
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