Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading

Nigeria's Rivers top CAF Cup group after win with 10 men

Terem Moffi (R) scored twice as Nice beat Cote d'Azur rivals Monaco 3-0. ©AFP

Johannesburg (AFP) - Nigerian club Rivers United went top of their CAF Confederation Cup group on Sunday by beating DC Motema Pembe of the Democratic Republic of Congo 1-0 despite having a player red-carded.

Defender Ebube Duru was sent off just before half-time after being shown a second yellow card during the Group B clash in Luanda. 

The match was moved to the Angolan capital because the home ground of Pembe in Kinshasa is not up to international standards.

A 53rd-minute goal by Ghanaian Paul Acquah took the Port Harcourt outfit to six points, two more than ASEC Mimosas of the Ivory Coast and Diables Noirs of Congo Brazzaville.

Rivers have risen from the bottom to the top of the mini-league within three rounds after suffering a three-goal drubbing away to Diables in matchday 1.

United are hoping to become the first Nigerian winners of the African equivalent of the Europa League and host Pembe on March 8 in the next round.

Marumo Gallants of South Africa surrendered the last perfect group record when losing 2-0 away to USM Alger of Algeria in a top-of-the-table Group A showdown.

Abderrahmane Meziane scored his third goal of the campaign by slamming a loose ball into the corner of the net six minutes before half-time.

Despite territorial dominance, USM had to wait until one minute from time to seal victory as captain Zineddine Belaid nodded past Zimbabwean goalkeeper Washington Arubi after a free kick.

USM have seven points and Marumo six, and Saint-Eloi Lupopo of DR Congo lie third after edging Al Akhdar of Libya 1-0 to collect their first points. 

TP Mazembe of DR Congo, winners of 11 CAF titles, surprisingly lost 2-0 at home to leaders US Monastir of Tunisia in Group D with Malian Boubacar Traore and Zied Aloui scoring.

Young Africans of Tanzania are second, one point above Mazembe, after drawing 1-1 away to Real Bamako of Mali, who levelled through Emile Kone in added time. 

FAR Rabat of Morocco, one of three former African champions among the 16 title contenders, lead Group C thanks to a 2-0 win over Egyptian visitors Future.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.