NPFL: Plateau Stun Sunshine, Stay Top; FC Ifeanyi Ubah Overcome ABS; El-Kanemi, Gombe Drop Home Points To Rangers, Enyimba

FC Ifeanyi Ubah's team

Plateau United extended their lead at the top of the table after coming from a goal down to beat 10-man Sunshine Stars 2-1 in Akure on matchday 23 of the Nigeria Professional Football League on Wednesday.

Ezekiel Thompson gave hosts Sunshine Stars, playing behind closed doors as punishment for crowd trouble, the lead in the 34th minute before Emmanuel Odafe equalised for Plateau on 62 minutes.

Emeka Umeh scored the winning goal in the final minute to seal the win for Plateau United.

Sunshine Stars keeper David Ariyo was sent off for protesting the goal.

The win took Plateau United's points to 42, five clear at the top.

In Maiduguri, El-Kanemi Warriors dropped their first points at home as they had to rely on a late goal to force champions Rangers to a 1-1 draw.

El-Kanemi were aiming to make it their 12th straight home win of the season and close the gap on leaders Plateau United but Daniel Etor stunned the home crowd by scoring on 70 minutes to give Rangers the lead.

With four minutes remaining, Aghahowa Otakho scored for El-Kanemi to earn a share of the points for his team.

>With the draw, El-Kanemi are third on 37 points, while Rangers are 14th on 28 points.

In Makurdi, a hat-trick from Anthony Okpotu gave Lobi Stars a 3-1 win against MFM FC.

Three first half goals by Okpotu in the 20th, 28th and 31st minute, gave Lobi their 10th win of the campaign.

NPFL top scorer, Stephen Odey, was not listed for the Lagos-based club for the game.

The defeat means MFM drop to fourth on 37 points in the league table.

In Nnewi, IfeanyiUbah overcame ABS 2-0 thanks to goals from Yaya Kone and Pascal Seka.

Kone scored the first goal on 28 minutes before Seka doubled the lead on 57 minutes.

IfeanyiUbah are now second on the log on 37 points and have won their last seven home league games.

At the Lekan Salami Stadium, Ibadan Shooting Stars could not make it back-to-back wins as they were forced to a 0-0 draw by Kano Pillars.

It was Shooting Stars' eighth stalemate of the season with six wins and nine defeats.

Shooting Stars remain in the 19th position in the league table.

In Gombe, Gombe United needed a late goal to deny Enyimba their second away win of the season as they played a 1-1 draw.

Bartholomew Ibenegbu opened the scoring for Enyimba on 55 minutes but Suleiman Usman equalised with 10 minutes left in the game.

In other results, CAF Confederation Cup campaigners Rivers United lost 1-0 away to Niger Tornadoes, while Nasarawa United defeated visiting Katsina United 2-0.

The match between Akwa United and Wikki Tourist was postponed to Wednesday, June 14.

NPFL matchday 23 results:

3SC 0 vs 0 Kano Pillars
Lobi Stars 3 vs  1 MFM
El-Kanemi Warriors 1 vs 1 Rangers
Sunshine Stars 1 vs 2 Plateau United
Gombe United 1 vs 1 Enyimba
IfeanyiUbah 2 vs 0 ABS
Niger Tornadoes 1 vs 0 Rivers United
Nasarawa United 2 vs 0 Katsina United

League Table: