Al-Merreikh 4 Rivers 0: Al-Madina, Alticket goals send United put of CAF Champions League
By: Silver Edward
Rivers United have been knocked out of the CAF Champions League by Al-Merreikh after a humiliating 4-0 defeat in Sudan.
Rivers United were previously favorite to scale through to the group stages after a fulfilling 3-0 victory in Port Harcourt, in the first leg.
It took Al-Merreikh 45 minutes to level up on aggregate with Rivers United.
Bakri Al-Madina opened the scoring sheet for the Sudanese side eight minutes into the game by a deflected free kick, getting his brace and doubling the lead 24th minutes later. Just before half time Madina scored from a penalty spot for Al-Merreikh, completing his hat-trick.
Alticket got the fourth goal for the Sudanese side 72nd minutes into the game, ending the dreams of Rivers United.
Al-Merreikh qualifies for the group stage for twenty straight seasons.
4-3 it ended on aggregate in favor of Al-Merrikh.
Rivers United will now compete in CAF Confederation Cup, while Al-Merreikh will fight to make a mark in the group stage of the CAF Champions League.