Nigeria’s sole representative in the CAF Confederation has progressed into the quarter-finals of the competition after defeating Dreams FC of Ghana by 2-1 at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium on Sunday.
In the match which was one of the final group matches of the 2023/2024 CAF confederation, the Nigerian team waited for 10 minutes into added time after 90 minutes to grab the winner and the ticket to the group stage of the competition.
Kazie Eyinanya’s late winner ensured that Rivers United finished second with 12 points, the same point as Dreams FC which topped the group on superior goal difference.
Going into the game, Rivers United needed to win with at least two goal margins for them to qualify irrespective of what happens in the other group match between Club in Tunis, Club Africain and APC do Lobito Academicals of Angola.
Rivers United’s dreams of making it into the quarter-final looked shattered after Dreams FC took the lead through Aziz Issah in the 40th minute.
The Nigerian side fought back to restore parity through Deputy Echeta just after an hour into the game before Kazie Eyinnaiya came through with the winner in the 90+10 minutes to send the home fans into wild jubilation, securing a goal margin which ended up being enough for Rivers United to sail into the next round.
All thanks to APC do Lobito grabbing their first point of the series after playing a surprise 1-1 draw in Tunis on Sunday Evening, a result which left Club Africain finished 3rd on the log with 10 points in six matches.
