Lobi Stars players

Lobi Stars Football Club of Makurdi on Saturday in Enugu lost 0-1 to Wydad Athletic Club Casablanca of Morocco in a 2018/2019 CAF Champions League Group A Match Day 3 fixture.

The match, earlier slated for Friday, was moved by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), after the hosts pleaded for a shift following the PDP presidential campaign rally in Enugu.

Lobi Stars’ high hopes of a second home win in the competition was scuppered when Mohammed Nahiri scored the only goal of the match in the 19th minute.

Speaking to newsmen after the match, Lobi Stars’ Head Coach, Solomon Ogbeide, said his team did not even dream of losing points at home.

“This is football and we lost, but we can make it up with other matches in the group.

“I believe that it is not yet over until it is over, because we can still win away from home.

“Though, it is going to be difficult now, but we have no option than to give it our all to ensure we pick points in our next away games and make it up with our remaining home matches, ” he said.

Ogbeide insisted that his team gave their best, and the visiting team were lucky to score from one of their goalscoring chances.

He added that Lobi Stars should not be seen as pushovers in the group, and the team would be returning home in Makurdi to prepare well.

The coach said they needed to ensure they still qualify for the quarter-finals from the group, in spite of the outcome of Saturday’s match.

In his remarks after the match, Faouzi Benzarti, the Wydad coach, said they came to Enugu with a game plan which worked for them.

“This is a vital win against one of the toughest clubs in our group and it is a boost to our confidence.

“We know that our opponents were going to come out to attack us and that is why we did not waste time in converting our goalscoring chance in the first half.

“When they realised what was happening after the interval and raised their game, we tightened our back and did not yield to pressure from them,” Benzarti said.