18th February, 2013
Nigeria’s Kano Pillars got off to a great start in the CAF Champions League when they trounced Olympique de Bangui 5-1 in Kano on Saturday.
Pillars coach Mohammed Babaganaru praised his team for recording a big win against the Central African champions.
“I thank God for the emphatic victory. That was our game plan. It was a good game and my boys showed good character,” said the Pillars coach.
“Olympique are not a bad side. They are a team of young, ambitious players and though we are going into the second leg with wide goal margin, we won’t relent in our preparation ahead of the match so we can get victory there too.”
In a match that was played inside a jammed Sani Abacha Stadium in Kano, Pillars went ahead in the16th minute when Bello Kofarmata struck to send the fans into jubilation.
Nasiru Ali made it 2-0 when he scored in the 37th minute, before the Central African Republic club fought back to pull a goal back through Didier Yabo in the 44th minute.
Kano Pillars continued with their dominance in the game and were rewarded with a third goal in the 57th minute through substitute Nafiu Ibrahim.
Rabiu Ali made it 4-1 with a 66th minute strike and Nafiu Ibrahim completed his brace with an 89th minute goal to end the game 5-1 in favour of Pillars.
The return leg match will be played in Bangui on 28 February.
The win at the weekend will virtually guarantees Pillars progression to the next round of the competition but Ganaru says complacency will not be on the agenda for his side when the return leg comes around.
“We will not be complacent. We won’t relax because this is just the first half of the tie,” Ganaru told supersport.com on Saturday.