Ugochukwu Iwuchukwu
Rivers United 2021 Aiteo Cup campaign came to a close on Friday after a zero one defeat at the hands of Bayelsa United of Yenegoa in the semi-final of the competition at the Agege Stadium in Lagos.
Okardi Inikurogha’s goal in the 68th minute was enough to see the “Creek Boys” through to the final.
In the other semi-final clash, Nasarawa United stopped Sunshine Stars 6-5 on penalties after full-time scores stood at 2-2.
Nasarawa United will face Bayelsa United in the final of the Aiteo Cup on August 8th in Benin City.
The winners of the Aiteo Cup will represent Nigeria in next year’s CAF Confederation Cup.
What the manager said…
The Technical Manager of Rivers United Stanley Eguma while reacting to the loss after the game said his team played well but were unfortunate.
”I think we played a good game today unfortunately we conceded that goal and we couldn’t convert our penalty. I think it’s really unfortunate, we got too many chances which we missed. Well it’s part of the game and we’re really unfortunate today” he said.
What’s next?
Rivers United will resume their Nigeria Professional Football League NPFL matchday 37 campaign on Monday 2nd August as host to Lobi Stars at the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium by 4 pm.
The ‘Pride of Rivers’ will then play their last game of the season on Thursday 5th August against Sunshine Stars of Akure at the Akure Township stadium.
The team is currently fifth on the NPFL table with 60 points from 36 games and need to win its two remaining games to stand a chance of securing a continental ticket.
Rivers United represented the country at the CAF Confederation Cup this ongoing season after finishing third during the 2019/2020 NPFL.
The team, however, was eliminated by Enyimba fc of Aba during the play-off stage of the competition.
