Enyimba of Aba survived an early scare at home in the CAF Confederation Cup, as they had to romp back from a goal down to defeat visiting ES Setif of Algeria on Sunday, megasportsarena.com reports.
In contrast of expectations from the home fans of a smooth cruise for The Peoples’ Elephants at their favourite slaughter slab, Fatai Osho’s side conceded first in Aba against the Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 outfit
That meant Setif suffered their third defeat of the campaign, despite scoring first in the Group A clash that seemed to be set up for a straightforward victory for Osho’s team, as their visitors have faced very inconsistent form this season in CAF’s second-tier club competition.
The Peoples’ Elephants looked lost and flustered for the first 45 minutes of action at Enyimba International Stadium before an impressive second-half display handed them all points at the expense of their Algerian foes.
A match report by goal.com read: Buoyed by their 1-0 triumph over Dakkada FC in their last outing in the Nigeria Professional Football League, Osho’s team started the match on a bright note by keeping Nabil Kouki’s men in their own half.
Nevertheless, it was the North Africans who opened the scoring after 13 minutes through Monsef Bakrar. The 20-year-old profited from his team’s well-organised interplay to fire the ball past Nigeria international John Noble.
Five minutes later, the Nigerians were provided with a big chance to level matters when they were awarded a penalty by Djiboutian referee Souleiman Ahmed Djama, after which Enyuimba’s captain Austin Oladapo’s effort was stopped by goalkeeper Sofiane Khedairia and the miss added to their frustration, as they repeatedly dismantled the ES Setif backline without success.
Five minutes before the end of the first half, Enyimba leveled matters through Oladapo, who made amends for his earlier penalty miss and they came close to taking the lead in the 44th minute but goalkeeper Khedairia was at alert to save a tricky Samad Kadiri shot.
Both teams were much improved following the restart for the second half, but still scarcely threatened until Tosin Omoyele’s sublime strike sealed the win on the hour mark, after he profited from an assist from Anayo Iwuala.
