Plateau United and MFM maintained their fight for Nigerian Professional Football League honours on Sunday, but Akwa United's hopes were dealt a hammer blow.
Plateau United 2 Shooting Stars 0
Plateau maintained their three-point lead at the top of the table thanks to a comfortable home win against Shooting Stars on a rainy day in Jos. Emmanuel Odafe and Ibeh Johnson scored in either half against a Stars side that now drop to 16th spot, level on points with ABS FC in the last relegation place.
Enyimba 1 Kano Pillars 0
Mfon Udoh's 71st-minute penalty secured maximum points for Enyimba against 10-man Kano Pillars, who had Junior Lokosa sent off in the first half for a rough tackle. The Peoples Elephant dominated throughout and were unlucky not to have won by a wider margin after hitting the woodwork on four occasions. Enyimba remain fourth, while Pillars are stuck in 10th.
Remo Stars 0 MFM FC 1
Second-place MFM FC secured a second away win of the season against Remo Stars in the south-west derby. Stephen Odey missed a 56th-minute spot-kick as he failed to add to his 18 league goals. Austine Ogunye struck the decisive goal against the bottom club, combining with fellow substitute Akuneto Chijioke.
Abia Warriors 0 FC Ifeanyi Ubah 0
Warriors secured a third successive league draw, earning a share of the spoils against FC Ifeanyi Ubah in the Oriental derby played in Umuahia. The Warriors, 14th on the table, were far from convincing on home turf in a drab game which failed to produce any worthy goal-mouth action. The result proved to be a further setback for the continental aspirations of FC Ifeanyi Ubah, who slipped two spots down to eighth.
El Kanemi Warriors 1 Akwa United 0
Warriors bounced back from successive league defeats to beat Akwa courtesy of Tchoanfine Pade's first-half header. The result is a hammer blow to Akwa's title aspirations as they slip seven points behind the leaders.
Katsina United 2 ABS FC 2
ABS were handed a relegation lifeline as they battled impressively to earn a draw against Katsina United. Destiny Ashadi gave Katsina the lead, before Martin Ossy levelled on the stroke of halftime. Joseph Adah restored the hosts' advantage, but Oluwasegun Akinbo had the last meaningful say in the game, netting a goal for ABS which moved them up to 17th place.
Wikki Tourists 2 Sunshine Stars 1
Wikki moved away from the relegation zone with a gutsy 2-1 win against Stars, who slipped a spot down to 12th place. Veteran defender Nojeem Raji put Stars ahead in the 11th minute, but Idris Guda brought them level soon afterwards. Chinedu Onyelonu then scored the winner from the spot after a Stars player handled the ball in the box.
Gombe United 0 Lobi Stars 0
Gombe endured another torrid game in their bid to beat the drop, failing to score in successive home games as they earned a third draw in a row against Stars. It could have got worse for the hosts as well as Kingsley Eduwo struck the woodwork with six minutes remaining.