With three matchdays remaining in the 2025/26 Nigeria Premier Football League season, the title race has been turned on its head following a dramatic Sunday in Kano. Ahmed Musa, the Super Eagles veteran, scored a 92nd-minute header to hand Kano Pillars a 2-1 comeback win over Rivers United at the Sani Abacha Stadium — a result that has dramatically altered the complexion of the championship standings.
Rivers United had arrived in Kano as league leaders, sitting on 58 points and widely regarded as strong favourites to clinch the title. They departed without those three points and, more critically, without top position. Simultaneously, Rangers International were defeating Enyimba in Enugu, meaning that by the time both final whistles sounded, the top of the table had been completely reshuffled.
The match itself was a tightly contested encounter for much of its duration. Kano Pillars broke the deadlock in the 81st minute through Abdullahi Musa, with Ahmed Musa registering the assist. Rivers United appeared to have salvaged a point when Handsome Surveyor equalised from a corner in the 89th minute. However, the respite was short-lived. Fahad Usman delivered the assist, and Musa powered home a bullet header in the second minute of added time to seal all three points for the home side, as confirmed by Kano Pillars FC’s official account and corroborated by Rivers United FC’s official account.
The goal carried additional emotional weight beyond the title implications. In the days leading up to the fixture, some stakeholders had called for the match to be postponed as a mark of respect for Ibrahim Galadima, the former Nigeria Football Association chairman and a foundational figure in Kano Pillars’ history, who had passed away just one day prior. The game proceeded as scheduled, and Pillars dedicated the result to his memory.
For Finidi George, the former Super Eagles winger now serving as Rivers United head coach, the defeat represents a significant setback in his pursuit of a first NPFL title with the Port Harcourt-based club. Rivers United have now suffered four consecutive defeats in the league, a run that has cost them the summit position at the worst possible moment in the campaign.
Rangers International, who capitalised on Rivers United’s slip, now sit at the top of the table and hold a commanding position in the title race with just three rounds of fixtures remaining. The Enugu-based club will be aware that the initiative is firmly in their hands.
Ahmed Musa, meanwhile, continues to demonstrate his enduring influence in the domestic game. The former Leicester City and CSKA Moscow forward has long been a talismanic presence at Kano Pillars, the club he rejoined after stints in Europe and Saudi Arabia, and Sunday’s intervention underlines that his impact in front of goal — and from set-piece situations — remains significant at this level.
With the NPFL season entering its final stretch, the remaining fixtures for both Rivers United and Rangers International will be closely monitored. The mathematics, as things stand, heavily favour Rangers, while Rivers United face the prospect of a title charge unravelling in the closing stages of what had been a promising campaign.
