Kwara United Head Coach, Tunde Sanni, has expressed shock over his Afonja Warriors’ poor performance against Rangers in Saturday’s NPFL matchday 29 clash in Enugu, Completesports.com reports.
Kwara United suffered a 3-0 defeat, courtesy of goals from Rangers’ Chiedozie Okorie, Isaac Saviour, and Frank Uwumino.
Coach Sanni lamented that his team delivered an unusually poor performance, riddled with basic errors, particularly from key players.
Also Read: NPFL: Rangers Thrash Kwara United To End Winless Streak
He was particularly disappointed that Kwara United’s midfield, which he described as the team’s usual strength, became “ball donors” to Rangers throughout the game.
“We’re going to work on it. This is not how we play, especially in the midfield,” Sanni said during the post-match press conference.
“Our midfield is usually our weapon. But did you see how we were donating the ball to our opponents in the middle today? Even when you assess the players critically, you’ll see that we have so much to offer, but something just went wrong today, and there’s nothing we can do about it now.”
Reflecting on what was one of his side’s heaviest defeats of the campaign, Sanni was stunned by the frequency of elementary mistakes from his players. He found it even more painful that the errors came from key members of the team.
“It was unbelievable,” Sanni reiterated. “Unbelievable because if you watched our last home match, you wouldn’t believe this was Kwara United playing today.
“We were full of errors today, and I don’t know why. And these errors came from our top performers—the same players who had been outstanding in previous games. I really don’t understand it. It’s bad. It’s shocking.”
The Kwara United gaffer admitted the defeat was even more painful because Rangers had snatched an away point in Ilorin during the first round. He revealed that his team had come to Enugu seeking revenge, but the plan backfired.
“It’s painful, honestly, because they (Rangers) came to Ilorin and stole a point from us, which hurt. The goal they scored there was their only real chance.
“But today, we thought we were going to pay them back, and it backfired,” Sanni lamented.
By Sab Osuji
