NPFL PLAYERS NET 379 GOALS AT MID-SEASON

Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) reached the mid-season with fixtures held over the weekend of January 20-21 and with a total of 379 goals scored in 185 games, an average of two goals and a fraction per match.

According to stats released by the NPFL Competitions Department, there was a total of 139 wins recorded over the period and five outstanding matches yet to be played.

The stats show that Remo Stars Sikiru Alimi is the most prolific scorer at the halfway mark of the season with 11 goals but didn’t indicate how many matches he played out of the 19 his club was involved in.

Ten away victories were recorded and 46 draws which saw 271 goals scored by home sides and 108 scored by clubs on the road.

Out of a total of 47 penalties awarded, 37 were scored with ten not scored. Of the 379 goals, own goals accounted for nine just as there were 3 Hat-tricks  in this first half of the season.

Referees sought to maintain discipline and clean games by issuing a total of 724 cautions and expelling 23 players from matches for various breaches of the rule.

Lobi Stars of Makurdi ended the first stanza of the season at the top of the log with 36 points, scoring 22 goals and conceding 15 to earn a goal surplus of 7. However, it was Remo Stars that ended up more prolific at scoring, netting 27 goals while Rivers United, though with three outstanding matches, paraded the strongest defence that let in just 10 goals. Their Riverine neighbours, Bayelsa United topped the list for most goals conceded with 32 shipped in.