The head coach of Rivers United, Stanley Eguma, has attributed his team’s defeat at the hands of Young Africans of Tanzania to the injuries that kept several of his team’s best players out of the home game.
On Sunday, Rivers United hosted the Young Africans of Tanzania at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo for the first leg of the CAF Confederation Cup quarter-final clash. To the dismay of the hosts, the Tanzania team defeated the defending Nigeria Professional Football League champions 2-0.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Fiston Mayele scored twice in the second half to cause Eguma’s side to suffer their first home defeat.
For the majority of the game, the visitors threatened their opponents’ defense. In the 74th minute, Mayele scored the game’s first goal by accurately finishing off a cross from captain Nondo Mwannyeto.
After an incredible counterattack by the visitors, the Congolese completed his brace by scoring his third goal of the season.
The top goal scorer in the league, Paul Acquah (injury), Joseph Onoja (injury), and Morice Chukwu (suspension) were all absent for Rivers United ahead of the game. Also, Williams Ukeme and left-back Ebube Duru were unable to play due to injuries.
To advance to the next round, the defending NPFL champions must now defeat the Tanzanians by at least two goals without conceding in the return leg in Dar es Salaam on April 30.
“I will say it was a bad day for us”, coach Eguma said after the 2-0 defeat on Sunday.
“We didn’t get our acts right. We had some scoring chances in the first half but we couldn’t convert until the opponents scored in the second half and they came out to play. They equally got the second from a counter.
“I believe we have learned our lessons and some of our key players that were missing would have made some difference for us.”
