Remo Stars vs Best Talent Friendly: Musa’s hat-trick not enough as the hosts survive the late comeback

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Remo Stars Football Club secured a thrilling 5-3 victory over Best Talent Football Club at the Remo Stars Stadium, Ikenne, in a pulsating encounter that produced eight goals.

Best Talent FC staged a remarkable second-half comeback thanks to a stunning hat-trick from Usman Musa, but the Sky Blues held their nerve and added two late goals to secure victory.

Kunle Soname’s side started the match on the front foot and were rewarded with their first goal after 20 minutes, taking advantage of an opening in the Best Talent defense to establish a 1–0 lead. The hosts doubled their lead six minutes later when they found the net again in the 26th minute, leaving Best Talent with a difficult task heading into half-time.

The Mowe giants tried to respond, with Usman Musa, Oluwayinka Oreoluwa and Asaolu Joshua involved in their attacking moves, but the former NPFL champions remained in control. With no further goals before half-time, the first half ends:
Remo Stars 2–0 Best Talent FC.

Best Talent coach Farouk Yusuf responded to his team’s first-half predicament with an early tactical adjustment.
Joseph Emmanuel and goalkeeper Joel Jarious were withdrawn, while Olaniyan Ezekiel and Fadeyi Joshua were introduced before half-time as Best Talent looked to change the momentum of the game. The changes brought renewed energy to the Mowe teams, but Remo Stars extended their lead in the 56th minute to make it 3-0.

With three goals down, Adeyinka Adeyemo’s boys refused to give up and the comeback began in the 63rd minute when Usman Musa pulled a goal back, giving Best Talent renewed confidence.
Musa scored again in the 70th minute, reducing the deficit to 3–2 and putting Remo Stars under considerable pressure.
The Integrity side made another double substitution with the introduction of Sodiq and Smart, with Ahmad Mohammad Cisse and Oluwayinka Oreoluwa making way.
The offensive changes paid off as Musa completed his hat-trick in 90+2 minutes, bringing the top talent level to 3–3 and completing a remarkable individual comeback.

Just when Best Talent looked to have completed a stunning recovery, the Sky Blues responded with two late goals. The hosts restored the lead in the 95th minute before adding another in the 97th minute to make the final score 5–3.

The final double effectively ended Best Talent’s hopes of completing the comeback and handed Remo Stars a hard-fought victory.

Speaking to the coach of FC’s best talent, Farouk Yusuf praised his players for their remarkable comeback, but attributed the defeat to a momentary loss of concentration. “Big kudos to these lads for standing toe to toe with the Removal Stars. They deserve every praise for coming from 3-0 down to level with the former NPFL champions on their own turf. If not a loss of focus and desire to snatch a win probably caused us to lose but honestly, they did well.” Former Coca-Cola youth team introduced

Best Talent FC Starting XI
Joel Jarious (PORT); Otene Miracle, Ajibade Azeez, Ogedengbe Mathew-C, Teekina Michael; Joseph Emmanuel, Ahmad Mohammad Cisse, Johnson Pius; Asaolu Joshua, Oluwayinka Oreoluwa, Usman Musa.
Coach: Farouk Yusuf
The best replacements of FC talent
Joseph Emmanuel → Olaniyan Ezekiel
Joel Jarious → Fadeyi Joshua
Ahmad Mohammad Cisse → Sodiq
Oluwayinka Oreoluwa → Smart

*Credit: Sunday Agunbiade (Mr VAR)*