Kano Pillars young striker, Yusuf Abdullahi, was the hero after he scored all five goals in the 5-2 defeat of relegation-threatened Gombe United in yesterday’s Nigeria Premier League (NPFL) Week 11 match played at the Pantami Stadium in Gombe.
Before the hour mark, the striker had etched his name in gold with four goals to put the ‘Masu gida’ boys in the driving seat as the host searched fruitlessly for ways to avert the embarrassing situation.
Yusuf opened the scoring for Kano Pillars in the 10th minute and doubled the lead four minutes later before Sadiq Shuaibu reduced the deficit for the hosts in the 17th minute.
However, there was no stopping the young Yusuf who bagged his hat-trick in the 33rd minute and even as Ahmed Jimoh reduced the deficit in the sixth minute of first half added time, Yusuf grabbed his fourth goal in the 10th minute of added time for the eventful first half to end 4-2 in favour of Pillars.
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On resumption, Yusuf put the ice on the cake with his fifth goal in the 60th minute as Kano Pillars compounded Gombe United’s relegation woes.
It will be recalled that Emem Eduok of the defunct Dolphins FC of Port-Harcourt once scored six goals against Nembe City in the 2014 NPFL season.
The resounding victory by Kano Pillars also lifted them to the seventh position on the league table with 16 points from 11 matches while Gombe United are 16th on the log with only 12 points from a possible 33 points.
In another week 11 match played yesterday, experienced striker Sikiru Alimi scored the only goal in the 60th minute as Remo Stars defeated Plateau United 1-0 to dislodge Doma United from the top of the table.
Elsewhere, the contest between Bayelsa United and Abia Warriors in Yenagoa ended in a 2-2 draw as the hosts had to fight back from two goals to earn a share of the spoils.
Katsina United suffered another defeat on the road as they lost 0-1 to Sporting FC in Lagos.
Clement Naantaum’s goal in the 13th minute was enough to win the maximum points for the NPFL debutants.
Meanwhile, Heartland’s search for victory continued as they managed to force 3SC to a 0-0 draw in Ibadan.
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