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Club Africain brushed aside Rivers United 2-0 in the CAF Confederation Cup Group A match at the Yakubu Gowon Stadium in Port Harcourt on Sunday.
The victory took the Tunisian giants to the top of Group A standings with nine points; Nigeria’s Rivers remain fourth with six points.
The home side started brightly with Bernard Ovoke looking lively for Rivers in the Africain half in the first 20 minutes.
Africain was then awarded a free-kick in a promising area in the 28th minute after Manoubi Haddad was fouled.
Oussama Darragi then stepped up and forced Rivers goalkeeper, Olufemi Thomas into a brilliant save from the set-piece.
Haddad tried to send Darragi through on goal in the 38th minute, but Thomas came out to gather the ball.
The hosts pressed Africain towards the half-time break and Bolaji Sakin’s header narrowly missed the target.
Nevertheless, the score was 0-0 during the half-time break, following a relatively quiet first-half in the Rivers State of Nigeria. Mohammed Lukman was introduced by the Rivers technical team seven minutes into the second-half, as the home side looked to break the deadlock.
However, it was Africain, who broke the deadlock through Haddad’s free-kick, which beat Thomas to make it 1-0 in the 62nd minute.
Pressure was mounting on the Africain and Ovoke outpaced the visitors’ defence in the 76th minute, but his shot at goal missed the target. But a late counter attack led to Mokhtar Belkhiter scoring with a deflected shot – sealing Africain’s hard-fought 2-0 away victory.
