CAF Champions League: Remo Stars suffer another early exit

Remo Stars’ continental woes continued on Sunday night as they suffered a 2-0 defeat against AS FAR Rabat at the Complexe Sportif Moulay Abdallah Stadium in Rabat. This was their third consecutive early exit from continental competitions.

The Nigerian side had previously been knocked out of the CAF Confederation Cup by AS FAR and the CAF Champions League by Medeama of Ghana, and Sunday night’s result added to their string of disappointments.

Despite defeating a North African club for the first time last week, Remo Stars’ unbeaten run in Rabat was brought to an end by two defensive lapses, leading to goals from Joel Boya and Amine Zouhzouh in the second half, which confirmed their exit from the CAF Champions League.

Remo Stars defended stoutly in the first half and held on for 0-0, showing that their preparations against the intimidating Moroccan crowd had paid off. However, two second-half defensive lapses ultimately cost them.

Match summary

Ahead of the match, Coach Daniel Ogunmodede made three changes to the squad that had defeated AS FAR in Ikenne a week earlier, bringing in Thankgod Ikeagwu, Dela Akorli, and Alex Oyowah to replace Sikiru Alimi, Tochukwu Michael, and Franck Mawuena.

Remo Stars started the game to replicate their previous success in Rabat. Ten minutes into the game, Dela Akorli had an attempt on goal from an Alex Oyowah pass.

AS FAR’s Amine Zouhzouh won a free kick in the 35th minute after being fouled by Akorli near the box. Goalkeeper Obassa parried the resulting set-piece for a corner. The subsequent corner was cleared, but Obassa was called into action again three minutes later for a crucial clearance. Zouhzouh tested Obassa again in the 42nd minute with a long-range shot tipped away for another corner.

After a tense first half, Remo Stars’ defence faltered six minutes into the second half, allowing Joel Boya to win an aerial duel against Nduka Junior and score past Obassa.

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In response, Coach Ogunmodede made a double substitution in the 54th minute, as he sent on Sikiru Alimi and Shuaibu Ibrahim for Akorli and Seun Ogunribide, respectively. However, these changes did not yield the desired impact, as Remo Stars struggled to penetrate the hosts’ defence.

In the 73rd minute, Sodiq Ismail’s free-kick was almost hea3xded home by Ifeanyi Anaemena, but six minutes later, Anaemena conceded a penalty after pulling down Tumisang Orebonye in the box. Amine Zouhzouh stepped up to convert the spot-kick, doubling AS FAR’s lead.

Despite a few late attempts to reduce the deficit, Remo Stars could not break through, and their CAF Champions League campaign again ended in disappointment.