Bendel Insurance Football Club of Benin playing at home at the Ogbe Stadium, beat ASO Chlef of Algeria 1-0 in the first leg of the preliminary round of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Confederation’s Cup competition, Saturday evening.
Bendel Insurance mercurial striker, Imade Osarenkhoe, emerged from a melee to slot in the only goal of the pulsating encounter in the 40th minute of the first half.
The match continued in breathtaking flows and ebbs with the Algerians fighting to level the score line while the Insurers sought to increase their lead with a view to establishing a comfortable advantage ahead of the return leg which comes up on August 27 in Algiers.
Try as they did however, neither team was able break the half time score line.
The match kicked off at 4:00pm at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, Benin City.
Bendel Insurance goalkeeper Obasogie Amas captained the team while Abdelkadir Boussaid captained Aso Chlef.
Insurance played a 4-4-2 formation while ASO Chef’s formation was 4-3-3.
Ahead of the kick-off, Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, the state Chief Judge, and a representative of NFF, Babagana Kali, inspected both teams and met with both officials on the bench.
The Stadium was almost filled to capacity, thanks to the Governor’s efforts in mobilising Edo people who responded to the call to turn up and cheer their home team, the Benin Arsenals to victory.
