Nigeria’s last team in CAF club competitions this season, Rivers United scaled through to the group stage of the Confederation Cup on Sunday evening. The Pride of Rivers beat Burkinabe side Etoile Filante 2-0 (2-0 aggregate) in the second round of CAF Confederation Cup to progress to the group phase.
Nigeria’s two teams in the elite CAF Champions League – Enyimba and Remo Stars – could not go beyond the first round. Defending champions of the Nigeria Premier Football League, Enyimba were defeated by Libya’s Al Ahly Bengazhi 3-4 aggregate, while Remo Stars lost 2-3 penalties to Medeama of Ghana.
Last Friday, the second Nigerian entry in the CAF Confederation Cup, Bendel Insurance lost 2-3 aggregate to RC Berkane of Morocco.
Rivers United had to survive elimination to the Burkinabe by the skin of their teeth, scoring their winning goals in the last minutes of the second leg fixture.
The team defied the odds of desertion by their ardent fans and struck when most did not expect.
After missing two penalty kicks 15 minutes to regulation time, it was thought that it was finished for Rivers United as a penalty kick shootout was looming with aggregate scorelines over two legs standing at 0-0.
Sad memories of their last season’s encounter with Tanzania’s Young Africans started flooding. The stadium started getting empty. They, the unexpected happened.
With just a minute left, Alex Oyowah scored. Nine minutes into added time, Oyowah made it a brace as he converted from the spot to give Rivers United a 2-0 win.
