Yola shocked at Pillars 4-0 whitewash by MAT

A member of the Kano Pillars continental committee and former chairman of the club, Alhaji Abba Yola has expressed shock after a 0-4 thrashing at the hands of Moroccan club, Moghreb Athletic de Tétouan (MAT), on Saturday.

“I am in shock. It was not a good game for us at all and no one saw this coming,” he told supersport.com.

He however chose to look at the optimistic picture in the shape of a ‘miracle’ in the return fixture in Kano.

“Miracles happen and if there are any group of fans who will cheer their side till the last minute irrespective of the consequences, those fans are the fans of Kano Pillars.

“It will be difficult but the players, coaches, fans and everyone involved with Kano Pillars must believe it is possible to overturn the deficit. The fans must turn out in their numbers and cheer the boys to victory in the second leg,” he said.

Mouhcine Iajour fired a 21-minute hat-trick with clinically taken goals on 13, 26 and 34 minutes with Zaid Krouch adding a late fourth to literally ram the final nail on the Pillars coffin.

The Nigerian champions must now show unreal grit and score five times without reply from MAT in the return fixture at the Sani Abacha Stadium in Kano on April 4.

Pillars suffered a complicated build-up to the game. Five of their players, including Gambo Mohammed were hospitalized just days to the first leg following a robbery incident that left the affected individuals with bullet wounds.

It necessitated a postponement of the fixture by a week but things got worse when arguably Pillars’ best striker, Christian Obiozor was “reported missing” a few days to the game with MAT.

Desertion was the last thing the Pillars coach, Okey Emordi would have contemplated and in the absence of the proven marksman, Sai Masu Gida were always going to struggle for goals.