BEVERLY HILLS, April 05, (THEWILL) – The fifth-placed side of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) Enyimba FC of Aba took the lead of Group A of the 2020/2021 TOTAL Confederation of African Football (CAF) Confederation Cup after the continental matches played on Sunday.
Nigeria’s two-time African champions defeated Algeria’s ES Setif 2-1 at their 16,000 capacity Enyimba Stadium in Aba, to top the group on six points.
Setif, who are themselves two-time African champions, have been disappointing in the group games. Their one draw and two losses see them rock bottom with only a point from that single draw.
The visitors came into the match with the knowledge that victory can see them off the last position in the group while bettering their chances to close the gap between them and group leaders Enyimba. Their initial push yielded results as Setif broke the deadlock after only 13 minutes. Monsef Bakrar put his name on the scoresheet from a well executed team move.
The goal from the 20-year-old striker bolstered Setif’s determination to push for more and hope to take all three points from the tie. This sentiment was given extra air when Setif goalkeeper Sofiane Khedairia stopped Augustine Oladepo’s effort from the spot after the hosts were awarded a penalty that could have led to the equaliser.
However, the leveller came for Enyimba with five minutes of the first half remaining. Oladepo atoned for the penalty miss and gave the People’s Elephant the necessary uplift to take into the interval as both teams were a goal apiece at half time.
Whatever the technical input during the break, it appeared to have struck a nerve because a more pacy Enyimba began the second period immensely determined to get more than a point from the fixture. Their resilience paid off handsomely at the stroke of the hour mark. Tosin Omoyele gratefully received an Emmanuel Iwuala’s pass, which he buried beyond the reach of Khedairia.
Enyimba held on for their second win in three games as no other goals came about before the final whistle. The six points in the matches played so far give them a single-point gap from South Africa’s Orlando Pirates, on five points.
The Pirates have only one win and have drawn the other two of three games they have played so far in the group. The other team in the four-team grouping is third-placed Libya’s Ahli Benghazi with a perfect balance of one each for win, draw and loss.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
