Heartland FC Owerri over the weekend at the Dan Anyiam Stadium delivered a commanding performance to defeat visiting Smart City FC 3-1
Just two minutes into the game, heartland’s striker, Francis Erikan, pounced on a catastrophic defensive mix-up from the Smart City backline.
Erikan slotted home calmly to send the home crowd into early raptures and give Heartland a dream start.
Impressed by the early lead, Heartland continued to press. Their dominance was rewarded in the 21st minute, when Jonathan Osundu doubled the advantage.
Just as it seemed Heartland would go into the break with a comfortable two goal cushion, Smart City found a lifeline. Few minutes to end the 1st half, striker Gafar Ojo managed to breach the Heartland defense.
A quick counter-attack caught the home side momentarily off guard, and Ojo finished with composure to pull one back for the visitors just before halftime.
The goal gave Smart City a hope, but Heartland emerged from the interval determined to regain control.
The second half saw a more measured contest, with Heartland managing the game intelligently.
70th minute of the game, Ali Sunday man overed and gave Heartland their third goal.
Sunday’s goal was a devastating blow that effectively ended the contest.
