Plateau United and Rivers United cruised to massive home wins against Libyan opponents in the first leg of the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup second preliminary round playoff matches on Wednesday.
The Nigerian duo were drop out from the CAF Champions League but seek to console themselves with Confederation Cup group stage spots as Rivers were 5-0 winners over Al Nasr while Plateau thrashed Al Akhdar 4-1.
In Port Harcourt, Rivers United avenge their heavy six-goal Champions League loss to Wydad Athletic Club by putting five past Nasr in the first leg of the playoff at the Yakubu Gowon Stadium.
Rivers raced into a two-goal lead inside the opening 15 minutes when Ebube Duru gave them a 12th minute lead from the penalty spot ehich was superbly converted three minutes later through Enyinnaya Kazie.
Despite the attempted fightbacks from the visitors, they went on to gain their third before halftime when Acquah found the back of the net with a clean finish.
In the 64th minute, Duru grabbed his second goal of the match from the spot for the Nigerian side's fourth and Malachi Ohawume's powerful shot completed the job 18 minutes from time.
At the MKO Abiola Stadium, Plateau zoomed past Akhdar to hand themselves massive first leg advantage for the reverse fixture next week as Ibrahim Mustafa and Onyebuchi Ifeanyi scored in the 27th and 40th minutes to give the home side a 2-0 first half lead.
Albert Hillary’s acrobatic goal signaled the third on the hour mark before he grabbed his second hand Plateau's fourth 10 minutes from time after the visitors pulled one back.
The return tie matches will be played in a week’s time and the aggregate winners will qualify into the group stages.
