Rivers United crash out of CAF Champions League

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Rivers United have been eliminated from the CAF Champions League preliminary round after playing out a 2-2 draw with San Pedro of Ivory Coast at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo on Sunday, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.

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The 2025/26 Nigeria Premier Football League runners-up were knocked out on the away-goals rule after the two legs ended 3-3 on aggregate.

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Rivers United had played out a 1-1 draw in the first leg in Ivory Coast last weekend but faced a difficult task at home in the return leg, falling two goals behind before staging a late comeback.

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San Pedro stunned the home side by taking a 2-0 lead inside the opening 20 minutes. The visitors opened the scoring in the 14th minute before doubling their advantage five minutes later to put Rivers United under severe pressure.

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The Nigerian side responded before half-time, pulling a goal back in the 43rd minute to reduce the deficit to 2-1 at the break.

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Rivers United continued to press for an equaliser after the restart, knowing another goal would keep their hopes of progressing alive.

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Their persistence finally paid off in the 88th minute when they were awarded a penalty, which was converted to level the game at 2-2.

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The late equaliser made it 3-3 on aggregate, but Rivers United were unable to find the goal that would have sent them through.

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With the aggregate score level, San Pedro advanced on the away-goals rule, leaving Rivers United to suffer a painful early exit from the competition.

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Their elimination leaves only NPFL champions Rangers International in the second round of the CAF Champions League preliminary round. Rangers will face Algerian side USM Alger in October.

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