Bantu's CAF Confederation Cup hangs in a balance following a 2-1 loss against Nigeria's Enugu Rangers played at Setsoto stadium on Sunday. The first leg clash means that Bantu will have to score at least 2-0 away in Nigeria in the return leg to be played weekend that will determine which team advances to the CAF Confederation Cup group stages.
sports
Jan. 18, 2019
2 min read
Can Bantu score 2 goals in Nigeria?
The game began in a fierce pace in which the hosts threatened with Tumelo Maine hesitating instead of taking the first shot and eventually missed what could have been an early goal. That early missed chance came back to haunt Bantu as they paid a heavy price after conceding an early goal after Bright Silas was allowed to take an acrobatic shot which handed the visiting side an early goal in the 20th minute of the game. Despite Bantu trying in vain to equalize after pressing hard to find an elusive goal, both sides went into the tunnel with Enugu Rangers in the driving seat. Maine had to be replaced in the first half even though some of the supporters were against coach James Madidilane's decision who opted for Mokone Marabe who failed to live up to expectations.
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In the second half, Bantu exerted more pressure with the likes of Tsietsi Motseare, Bokang Sello and Hlompho Kalake missing clear cut chances. However, against the run of play, Ranger's striker Goodwin Aguda found the second goal despite Bantu goalminder Ntsane Lichaba having been fouled and lying on the ground but the Madagascan match officials allowed the game to go on and registered a second goal. The goal did not deter Bantu's hopes of getting a consolation goal as they kept on knocking on the door and eventually scored the goal with second half substitute Lazola Jokojokwane having an easy tap in to covert from a cross which was too late.
It means that for Bantu to have any hopes of advancing to the next round of the competition, the Mafateng based side will have to score two goals away in Nigeria which is not going to be easy. Bantu reached the stage after losing 5-2 on aggregate against the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)'s AS Vita in the CAF Champions league. This was after Bantu had eliminated Botswana's Township Rollers in the preliminary round via penalty shoot-out after a 2 all draw after two legs.
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