Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) defending champions, Rivers United, started their title defence on a winning note as they laboured to a 2-1 win over 10-man Lobi Stars in the 2023 abridged league Week One match played Sunday at the Adokiye Amasiemaka stadium in Port-Harcourt.
However, the visitors were left fuming over poor officiating as apart from the dismissal of one of their dependable defenders, Sunday Chinedu, early in the second half, the home team’s winning goal came by way of a controversial penalty.
Maurice Chukwu had put Rivers United ahead in the 16th minute but former Katsina United man, Umar Abba, restored parity for Lobi Stars in the 55th minute.
But in the 64th minute, Lobi Stars suffered a major setback as they were reduced to 10 men when hard-like-nail defender Sunday Chinedu, was sent off for a second bookable offence.
Despite their numerical advantage, Rivers United struggled against the visitors until they were awarded a controversial penalty which Kenechukwu Agu converted in the 10th minute of added time.