The Lagos State University (LASU) football team yesterday defeated University of Ghana, 2-1 to qualify for the semifinals of the ongoing 11th All Africa University Games in Lagos.

The match ended goaless in the first half as both teams worked earnestly to cancel each other out. However it was LASU who drew the first blood following several pressure in the 68th minute through Timilehin Jagun after connecting with a through pass from the right wing.

This woke Ghanaian boys up knowing fully well that a loss in the game would usher them out of the competition. Ghana mounted pressure on LASU and got their equaliser through Ishmael Fusani in the 72nd minute of the game.

Both teams worked their socks off to cancel each other out with countless chances kept coming their ways. It was LASU who was more clinical at goal after getting their winning goal through Emmanuel Okore in the 85 minute when he beat the defence and goal keeper to hit the back of the net.

LASU Head Coach, Ramon Arubiewe told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that his team played according to instruction and deserved to win the match. “It was a close contest, I give credit to the players for playing as a team and with a lot of energy and determination.

“We move on now to the next level which is the semifinal and expect nothing but a much tougher opposition, but at the end we will prevailed,”Arubiewe said.

In his reaction, Ghana Head Coach, Ebenezer Adamoah told NAN that his team was very unlucky as they did their best to get a good result. “We played well but it was not just our day, we missed so many scoring chances that could have changed the outcome of the game,”Asamoah said.

In a related development, Federal University Oye, Ekiti (FUOYE) defeated University of Kenyatta, Kenya, 3-0 to advance to the semifinals of the football event.