See all first round results, as Enyimba, Remo Stars crash out of CAF Champions League
It was indeed a sad day for Nigerian football as former African champions, Enyimba and Remo Stars were kicked out of this year’s CAF Champions League after losing Sunday’s return legs of the first preliminary round matches at home.
At the Aba Township Stadium, the reigning Nigeria Premier League (NPFL) champions, Enyimba FC who needed only a goal to progress to the second preliminary round of the Champions League were forced to a goalless by Al-Ahly Benghazi of Libya.
It will be recalled that Enyimba had lost the first leg of the encounter last week 3-4 and needed to win by at least a goal to nil to move to the next round.
Unfortunately, after dominating proceedings in both halves, the visitors who deployed solid defensive tactics stood firm to clinch the important away victory.
Since 2015, this is the first time that Enyimba have been eliminated at this stage.
They had won the prestigious trophy back-to-back in 2003 and 2004 when Felix Anyasi-Agwu was the Chairman of the club.
In Ikenne, the 2023 NPFL runners-up, Remo Stars also exited the Champions League after losing 2-3 on penalties to Medeama of Ghana
Although Remo Stars won the return leg 1-0 for a 1-1 aggregate, they couldn’t hold their nerves in the penalty shoot-out that ensued paving the way for the Ghanaians to progress at their expense.
As it is, the only consolation for Nigerian football fans will be the hard fought away victory of Bendel Insurance over ASO Chelf of Algeria in the Confederation Cup.
Although they lost 0-1 in the return leg, Insurance triumphed 4-3 on penalties to progress to the second Round.
Ethiopia’s Saint George FC secured their place in the next round after a comfortable 3-1 win at home over Tanzania’s KMKM.
Coming back from a goal down in the second half, Dawit Alemu immediately brought his side back into the game with a converted spot kick in the 49th minute before Natneal Zeleke and Abel Yalew put the match beyond reach.
In Malawi, Big Bullets finished off the job at home with a 1-0 win over Dragon FC of Equatorial Guinea. The Malawians came into the clash with a comfortable 2-0 away win which set them up for a comfortable finish at home to secure a place in the next round.
On the western part of the continent, Cameroon’s Coton Sport de Garoua failed to capitalize on home ground advantage after Real Bamako of Mali overcame them 2-0 to advance to the next stage.
A lot was expected of the Cameroonians who held their opponents to a goalless draw in the first leg, however it was not meant to be as the Malians capitalized on their chances to edge their hosts in a tense affair.
Continuing with the action in the western part of the continent, Ivorian giants, Asec Mimosas made use of home ground advantage after defeating Coton Sport of Benin by 2-0 following a 0-0 away draw.
Al Ahli Tripoli’s 1-0 win over Nouadhibou FC of Mauritania was not enough to see them through after narrowly missing out with the final aggregate score being 2-1 in favour of the Mauritanians to see them through.
Moving to the action in Liberia, LISCR were stunned at home by Sierra Leone’s Bo Rangers with a narrow 1-0 victory which saw them through on a 2-1 aggregate scoreline, following last week’s draw were each side found the back of the net once.
With the final round of first preliminary fixtures concluded, the official fixtures of the second preliminary round will soon be communicated along with venues and kick-off times.
All results of the first preliminary round
St. George 3-1 KMKM (2-1)
Étoile du Sahel 1-0 CS Constantine (2-0)
Gaadiidka FC 2-0 APR (1-1)
Bumamuru 5-1 Bendje (1-1)
Al Merreikh 0-0 Otôho (1-1)
Orlando Pirates 3-0 Djabal FC (1-0)
Green Mamba 1-1 CUD Songo (0-1)
Power Dynamo 1-0 African Stars (1-2)
Young Africans 5-1 AS Ali Sabieh (2-0)
Vipers SC 2-1 Jwaneng Galaxy (0-2)
AS Far 7-0 ASKO (1-0)
Big Bullets 1-0 Dragón FC (2-0)
Coton Sport 0-2 Real Bamako (0-0)
Enyimba 0-0 Al Ahli Benghazi (3-4)
Vita Club 1-1 Primeiro do Agosto (1-2)
Remo Stars 1-0 Medeama (0-1)
Al Ahli Tripoli 1-0 Nouadhibou (1-1)
LISCR 0-1 Bo Rangers (1-1)
ASEC 2-0 Coton FC (0-0).
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