TheCable

Destiny Ashadi scored a penalty in injury time as Kastina United forced Kano Pillars to a 2-2 draw in the first game of the new Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) season.

The explosive encounter, which saw Pillars’ defender Victor Dennis sent off for a reckless tackle, played out on Saturday at the Muhammadu Dikko Stadium, Katsina.

Junior Lokosa scored the first goal of the season three minutes after the half-hour to give Pillars the lead.

With two minutes left in the first half, Pillars were down to 10 men, courtesy of Dennis’ two-footed tackle on Eric Gwammy.

Capitalising on the advantage, Katsina levelled matters through Ajana Chinedu’s header in the 45th minute. The first half ended 1-1.

Pillars went ahead after the hour mark through Alassan Ibrahim, who smashed home a screamer to beat Dami Paul in Katsina’s goal.

The home team responded by taking the game to the visitors.

They had the chance to equalise from a spot-kick when Emmanuel Anyanwu brought down Ajana but goalkeeper David Obiazo guessed right to save Muhammed Hussaini’s spot kick.

The penalty loss didn’t deter Abdullahi Biffo’s team from launching a fightback.

After Usman Fahad had handled the ball in Pillars’ box, Ashadi scored the resultant penalty to earn Katsina a point.