CAF CC: Stanley Eguma explains cause of Rivers United defeat at ASEC Mimosas

By Saheed Afolabi

Head coach of Rivers United, Stanley Eguma has revealed the major reason behind his side’s Sunday’s 1-0 defeat to Ivorian giants ASEC Mimosas in their final group stage match of the CAF Confederations Cup.

Les Mimos capitalized on openeing goal scored as early two minutes by Mofosse Tresor Karidioula to defeat the Nigerian champions in a keenly contested tie and finish the group stage as winners.

Disappointed Eguma, who was voted Nigeria’s Manager of the Year admitted his side were abysmal, stressing that the early goal conceded rattled them, while also lamenting their missed chances.

“We played below par but it wasn’t a bad outing. We lost the game due to the blunder we made very early and it weakened the team, that was the reason we lost this game,” Eguma told media.

“Our greatest undoing was losing a lot of scoring chances, if we have converted those chances it would have been a different ball game.

“We were under pressure after conceding very early and were more defensive in the game. We failed to raise our game today.”

Rivers United finished in second place in the group B of the CAFCC with ten points from six matches as they will know their quarter final opponent on April 5.