Shooting Stars’ hopes of securing a continental ticket suffered yet another major blow over the weekend as they fell to a 2-0 defeat to Akwa United in Uyo.

Despite a resilient first half, the visitors crumbled in the second, allowing the hosts to take full control, Footballrover reports.

The loss extends their winless run to seven matches, leaving coach Gbenga Ogunbote frustrated but determined to turn things around.

Akwa United punish Shooting Stars’ defensive lapses

Both teams struggled to break the deadlock in the first half, with Shooting Stars’ goalkeeper Mustapha Lawal making crucial saves to keep his side in contention.

However, the Oluyole Warriors’ resistance cracked in the 61st minute when Endurance Edebiri fired Akwa United ahead.

Just seven minutes later, Uche Sebastien doubled the lead, sealing Shooting Stars’ defeat to Akwa United.

Although the Ibadan-based side pushed forward in search of a response, their efforts proved fruitless, and Akwa United comfortably saw out the win.

The result sees Shooting Stars drop to sixth place with 43 points from 29 games, putting their continental qualification hopes in jeopardy.

Coach Ogunbote vows to keep fighting

Despite the setback, Ogunbote remains optimistic over the team’s quest for a continental ticket.

In his post-match interview, he admitted his team made costly errors but insisted they would keep pushing till the very end of the campaign.

“We have nine matches to decide that. We have gone seven games without a win; it could be any other team, so when we will pick up, maybe some other team will fizzle out. We will give it a fight until the end,” the experienced gaffer said.

Ogunbote stated that his team:

“Did everything humanly possible but were careless at some moments. This wasn’t a true reflection of the game. But we lost; that’s the summary of it all.

All we need to do is to go back and see where we got it wrong and get back to winning ways.”

Looking ahead, Shooting Stars will seek redemption when they host Niger Tornadoes in their next league fixture.

But before then, they will shift focus to the President Federation Cup, where they face Zamfara United in Abuja on Wednesday.

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Last Updated on March 17, 2025 1:28 pm by Sir Kris