The Aba Elephants have a mountain to climb in the return leg to reach the money-spinning stage of the continent's premier club competition after getting humiliated in Omdurman
Sudan's El Merreikh crushed Enyimba International FC 3-0 on Wednesday afternoon to leave the Nigerian club at the verge of elimination from the CAF Champions League.
FT | We suffer a loss in Omdurman
— Enyimba FC (@EnyimbaFC) December 23, 2020
| 3-0 |#MEREFC #TotalCAFC
An excellent hat-trick from El Merreikh forward Saifeldin Terry Maki helped the Sudanese side secure a massive victory over Enyimba FC in the first leg of the second Preliminary Round of the competition.
Despite the NPFL side being the better side in the opening stages, they fell behind to a Saifeldin Terry Maki goal 7th minute inside the near-empty Al-Hilal Stadium.
It was two-nil to the hosts after Maki finished another fine counter-attacking move from the home side with a minute left in the first half.
Enyimba took the game to The Leaders in the second half, launching one attacking move after another. Still, the Aba Elephants lacked the cutting edge in the final third to make their superiority count.
But with the self-acclaimed most successful club in Nigeria in desperate need of something special to take back home, they suffered a sucker punch as Maki netted his third goal of the day – and his fourth in the Champions League – in the 89th minute.
Enyimba will need to score at least three goals without conceding any in the second leg in Aba on January 5, 2021, to stand a chance of making it to the next room of the competition.
