Gor Mahia are 90 minutes away from clinching a historic ticket to the restructured Caf Champions League group stage when they take on Lobi Stars of Nigeria in their first round, second leg match today at Nnamdi Azikiwe stadium in Enugu.
The Kenyan champions, who’ve never reached the last 16 since 1997 when the championship was rebranded, will first have to ensure they avoid defeat of two unanswered goals to protect their 3-1 win posted in the first leg meeting last Sunday at Kasarani.
The Nigerian side, who’ve had to move their matches to Enugu state from their Aper Aku stadium in Makurdi city in Benue State due to its unavailability, utilised the home advantage to overturn a slim 1-0 loss to Cameroon side USM de Loum with a 2-0 score line in the preliminary round last month to reach this round on a 2-1 aggregate.
A similar result will see them see off Gor 3-3 on aggregate thanks to the away goal rule. The draw for the group stage that starts mid next month, will be held next Friday in Cairo, Egypt.
Lobi coach Solomon Ogbeide has youthful forwards Alimi Sikiru and Yaya Kone to bank on upfront.
“The players want to redeem themselves, we lost the first leg due to attitude and lack of concentration but playing in familiar territory, something can happen,” he alluded.
Source: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2018/12/champions-league-lobi-stand-between-gor-mahia-and-group-stage/
