Midfielder Godwin Aguda scored what turned out to be the winning goal as Nigerian Cup champions Rangers beat Bantu FC of Lesotho 2-1 (4-2 on aggregate) on Sunday to qualify for the 2018/19 CAF Confederation Cup group stage.
The Nigerians won the first leg 2-1 in Maseru a week from Sunday with Aguda scoring one of both goals but Gbenga Ogunbote’s wards had to come from behind in the return leg at the Nnamdi Azikwe Stadium after Fothoane had given the visitors a 13th minute lead.
Rangers were however not behind for long as Ajani Ibrahim drew the Flying Antelopes level in the nineteenth minute before Aguda added a quickfire goal barely sixty seconds later, his fifth goal of the Confederation Cup campaign, making him the joint top scorer of the competition so far.
Striker Ifeanyi George was guilty of missing several scoring chances which could have taken the Enugu side out of sight as early as the first half. There were no further goals in the second half but the result was sufficient enough to earn the 2016 Nigerian league champions a place in the group stage.
Rangers coach Gbenga Ogunbote hailed his team in the collective after the qualification.
“The success has been a collective responsibility. There are so many things in the mood. I have always seen every game as an obstacle to us winning the title and that’s what I sold to my players.
“So, when we first conceded, we were able to get our acts right and come back to win the game. We are not ready to give excuses and we will continue on the road to winning the title,” said Ogunbote to www.aclsports.com after the game.
Rangers will know their group stage opponents on Monday when the draw is conducted in Cairo, Egypt with the first round of games billed for a fortnight. Other top teams in the pot for the group stage draws are defending champions Raja Casablanca, Tunisian sides Etoile du Sahel and CA Sfaxien, Egyptian side Zamalek, Sudanese giants Al Hilal among others.
