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Atletico edge NPFL- All Stars

By Daily Sports on August 14, 2016

A stunning Nicolas Gaitan strike set the tone for Atletico Madrid’s 2-1 win over the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) All Star at the Trofeo Carranza in Cadiz on Saturday.

The defeat meant the Nigerian side finished the tournament with two successive defeats as well as another loss to Valencia in a friendly.

Atleti started as overwhelming favourites to claim a win over the Nigerian side but failed to find the break through until well after the half hour mark.

Unnecessary showboating in the NPFL All Star defence in the 33rd allowed Gaitan a clear sight of goal and the Atleti man obliged with a forceful finish which Ikechukwu Ezenwa did well to get his hands to but found impossible to keep out.

In truth, the Spaniards dominated and enjoyed the clearer goalscoring opportunities in the first half with only the crossbar denying Diego Godin from opening the scoring via a thumping header off a corner in the 24th minute.

Ezenwa also did well to prevent Diego Simeone’s men from extending their lead as he reacted well to deny Kevin Gameiro from close range in the 40th minute.

The NPFL All Star did threaten in the first stanza but it was only a gilt-edged goalscoring opportunity.

A combination of endeavour and good fortune saw Chisom Egbuchulam outsmart two Atleti players but his low cross which was met by an Obinna Nwobodo strike was deflected and Jan Oblak gratefully collected the effort which had its sting removed.

Atleti continued to boss proceedings in the opening stages after the restart and almost doubled their lead in the 51st minute when Gameiro freed Saul Niguez whose snap shot from close range was saved by the impressive Ezenwa.

A rash of substitutions by the NPFL All Star head coach, Salisu Yusuf yielded rich dividends as the Nigerian side improved dramatically and began to take a foothold on the game.

Dayo Ojo fired wildly three times from range as the NPFL All Stars tried to hurl themselves back into the contest in a frenetic second half.

Saul Niguez was impressively denied by Emeka Nwabulu late on after the Wikki Tourists goalkeeper replaced Ezenwa with a quarter of an hour remaining.

Second half substitute, Abdulrahman Bashir wasted the NPFL All Star’s best chance in the 70th minute when he blazed over with just Oblak at his mercy.

The attacker redeemed himself with four minutes remaining as he swept home unerringly from inside the box following hesitation in Atleti's defence to clear their lines.

There was to be late heartbreak for the NPFL All Stars though as Godin headed home from a corner with just seconds of regulation time remaining.

The NPFL All Star lost their opening game 2-1 to Valencia before receiving a 4-1 hiding from Malaga in their second contest.

•Sourced from Supersports.com. Photo shows NPFL-All Stars

Source Daily Sports

Posted August 14, 2016