Rivers United overcome Al Masry in first leg of CAF Confederation Cup Qualifiers

Nigeria’s representative at the CAF Confederation Cup, Rivers United, picked up a first leg win in their Group stage playoff round against Egyptian outfit Al Masry, winning 2-1 to gain an advantage.

After a cagey opening that saw Rivers United score the opener in the 18th minute which got ruled out for offside, the Pride of Rivers eventually got their opener through Super Eagles B midfielder Uche Onwuasonaya. The midfielder latched on to a pass from Malachi Ohawume before blasting a finish into the back of the net in the 25th minute to open the scoring at the Enyimba International Stadium.

The visitors from Alexandria responded immediately,  and two minutes later, they pulled themselves level through Egyptian winger Mohammed Antar, giving them a valuable away goal.

Rivers United did not let the goal they conceded to deter them, as they got themselves ahead once again in the 35th minute through midfielder Ishaq Kayode after an inventive flick from Ohawume, who registered his second assist of the game. Rivers United held on to a 2-1 win that puts them in a tricky spot going into the second leg next Sunday December 5th at the Borg El Arab Stadium.

Stanley Eguma, Rivers United Technical Manager: “It is a narrow win but I think it is not yet over. We will go back to Cairo and continue the search for goals. We know it’s going to be difficult but we will not go there to defend, we will go there to ensure that we score goals as we did today because it is only goals that will make us to qualify.”

Nigeria’s other representative in the competition, Enyimba FC, saw their first-leg clash against Libyan side Al Ittihad postponed after they were denied entry into Tunisia, where the first leg of the match was due to hold. The return leg of the match will still be held on December 5th at the Enyimba International Stadium in Aba.