Plateau United who finished as runner-up to Rivers United last season in the Nigeria Professional League securing a CAF Champions League spot picked a point away from home at Gabon against the Gabonese champions Stade Mandji at full time in the first stage of the preliminary round of the CAF Champions League. The game which didn’t start as scheduled by CAF suffered a few minutes of delay before kick off due to some unknown reasons. The team confirmed their departure from Lagos on Friday to Gabon on the club’s official Facebook page.
Coach Fidelis Ilechukwu’s boys put up a resilient performance as they fought hard to earn themselves a point away at the newly renovated FranceVile stadium against the Gabonese outfit.
Four goals were scored in the first half of the encounter, Plateau United led the encounter from their 18th minute strike which was neutralised by the hosts. Plateau returned with the lead at exactly 38th minute, but their efforts were put back following the first half last-minute equalizer from Stade Mandji. The game ended at 2-2 for the first half.
The game remained on the same scoreline after full time with both teams sharing points.
Plateau United finished their 2021-22 NPFL campaign with 67 points on the log after the 38 games of the season. The Jos-based club won the Nigerian top flight league (NPFL) for the first time in club history in 2017 and was the league topper in 2020 when the league was annulled as a result of the Covid-19 Pandemic. They returned to the CAF tournament for the first time since 2018
The two times Championnat National D1 secured their second-ever CAF Champions League promotion after 2010 following their triumph in the local league as the new Champions.
Plateau United will host Stade Mandji on the 18th of this month in Jos for a return leg in their first preliminary round of the tournament.
NPFL Champions Rivers United will host Champions of Liberia Watanga at the Adokiye Amiesimaka stadium tomorrow at exactly 4 pm local time.
