Two of Nigeria’s representatives in African club competitions, Bayelsa United of Yenagoa and Rivers United of Port Harcourt both moved ahead in their respective categories on Sunday, megasportsarena.com reports.
While Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) runners-up, Rivers United cruised ahead in the CAF Champions League, FA Cup winners, Bayelsa surged in the Confederation Cup.
Bayelsa State was agog on Sunday, as the south-south side surged into the next round of the CAF Confederation Cup at the expense of Ashanti Golden Boys from Guinea, following a 4-2 victory at home in Yenagoa.
The hosts romped into a 3-0 lead after 35 minutes with hits from Favour Martins, Okardi Inikurogha and Emo James, only for the Guineans to pull a goal back four minutes after the restart through Moussa Keita.
However, Okardi completed his brace in the 52nd for the Nigeria cup winners, before Keita grabbed his own brace for Ashanti Golden Boys on 78 minutes and Bayelsa United will now battle CS Sfaxien of Tunisia in the next round of the competition next month.
It was a similar story for another south-south side in the Champions League, as Rivers United advanced to the final play-off with a 1- victory over Young Africans of Tanzania, to go through 2-0 on aggregate.
The Garden City side, which won the first leg by the same scoreline a well earlier, got their lone goal at home through a substitute, Uche Onwuasonaya, who hit home the match winner nine minutes from full time in Port Harcourt.
The Rivers State-owned outfit will now face either Faisal Kenema of Ethiopia or Al Hilal of Sudan next month in the play-offs, from which victory will see them into the group stage of the elite clubs’ continental competition.
