Orlando Pirates held out resolutely on the road in Nigeria, but Enyimba finally found the all-important goal to clinch advancement to the CAF Confederation Cup quarter-finals in a 1-0 win on Wednesday. The crucial goal came from Cyril Olisemah in the fifth minute of second-half stoppage time as the midfielder latched onto a cross to blast home from close range. Enyimba’s victory negated the result in Group A’s other match, a 1-0 win for Algerian side ES Sétif that turned out to be not quite enough for advancement.
The Nigerian club gradually increased the urgency of their attacking intentions as the match progressed, knowing that only a victory would be good enough. Their opponents from South Africa played the match well by keeping the hosts honest with counter-attacks while holding out well by limiting Enyimba to speculative efforts. However, the increasing pressure on Pirates caused the defense to break late in second-half stoppage time when Tosin Omoyele’s cross bounced temptingly in front of the Bucs goal for Olisemah to triumphantly strike home.
In the other match, Algerian side ES Sétif’s poor early results in group stage play came back to haunt them as their 1-0 win at home against Libya’s Al Ahly Benghazi was not enough to put Sétif among the top two. A second minute own goal from Al Ahly’s Ali Alqmati was all Sétif needed to clinch the result they needed, but seven points in their final three games was not enough to overcome only one from their first three.
Highlights from both games are below.
Enyimba 1-0 Orlando Pirates
ES Sétif 1-0 Al Ahly Benghazi
