GRITTY ENYIMBA END IVORIAN ELIMINATION OF NIGERIAN TEAMS; PICK CONFED QUARTER FINALS TICKET

February 2, 2020 9:24pm

Sole survivor among the quarter of Nigerian clubs at continental duels, Enyimba defied odds at the Stade Municipal, Cote d’Ivoire to pick a quarterfinals ticket in the CAF Confederation Cup on Sunday.

The Nigerian side beat Cote d’Ivoire’s San Pedro 5-2 to qualify as runners up from Group D. That effectively ended the spate of Ivorian teams eliminating Nigeria in recent time.

Super Falcons were eliminated from the race to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics by Cote d’Ivoire whose men team also did the same for the Olympic Eagles.

Enyimba needed an outright win to neutralize what ever result that was obtainable from the other match – an all-African clash of group leaders, Hassania Agadir of Morocco and Algeria’s Paradou AC.

Surprisingly, hosts Hassania lost 0-3 at home. If Enyimba had not also won their away match, Paradou AC of Algeria would have qualified instead.

Enyimba made hays early in their match scoring two goals in the opening three minutes. Abdulrahman Bashir shot Enyimba ahead in the second minute and barely a minute later, Victor Mbaoma doubled the lead.

The host side, San Pedro fought back through Nigerian-born Sherif Olatunde Jimoh in the sixth minute to reduce the tally to 2-1. Augustine Oladapo increased the tally for Enyimba in the 25th minute, before San Pedro reduced the tally again in the 44th minute through Roland Zan Bi.

Victor Mbaoma increased the tally for Enyimba in the 75th minute before Stanley Dimgba rounded it up for Enyimba in the 85th minute.