MC Alger stun Enugu Rangers with 3-0 comeback to end Nigerian champions' CAF hopes

Enugu Rangers are out of the CAF Champions League after MC Alger overturned a 2-0 first-leg deficit with a 3-0 win at the Ali La Pointe Stadium in Algiers on Friday, taking the tie 3-2 on aggregate.

The Nigerian champions had travelled with a two-goal cushion from Abeokuta the previous weekend. They held it for 58 minutes, were level on aggregate with six minutes left, and then watched Soufiane Bayazid score deep into injury time to end their bid to reach the group stage for the first time.

According to Daily Trust, the result means there will be no Nigerian club in the group stage this season.

A second half that unravelled

The first half was goalless, and at that point Rangers were still comfortably on course. The tie turned after the break, when MC Alger scored three unanswered goals, according to Channels Television.

Chahreddine Boukholda broke the deadlock after 58 minutes, cutting the aggregate lead to a single goal. Rangers held out until the closing stages, and Daily Trust reported that goalkeeper Abuchi Okeke saved a Mohamed Bangoura penalty along the way.

The reprieve did not last. Bangoura scored from six yards six minutes from time to level the tie at 2-2 on aggregate, and Channels Television said the match appeared to be heading for a penalty shootout.

Instead, Bayazid settled it. CAF Online timed his goal at three minutes into injury time, while Daily Trust reported that he met a corner at the near post two minutes into added time. Either way, there was no time for Rangers to respond.

How Rangers built, and lost, their lead

The first leg at the MKO Abiola Sports Complex in Abeokuta had seen both sides finish with ten men, according to Blueprint Newspapers. Rangers goalkeeper Lucky Jimoh was sent off in the 13th minute, and MC Alger's Oussama Benhaoua was later dismissed in the second half for a second bookable offence.

Blueprint reported that Kenneth Igboke scored a late penalty for Rangers before substitute James Emo added a second three minutes later. It gave the Nigerian side a 2-0 lead that looked substantial, but one that left little margin once the Algerians found their rhythm at home.

Rangers had reached this stage the hard way. Blueprint reported that they came through the previous qualifying round against AS Sobemap of Benin Republic on penalties, winning a shootout 5-4 in Lomé after a 1-1 aggregate draw. That resilience was not enough in Algiers.

The defeat is a blow for a club that, according to Daily Trust, had never previously reached the Champions League group stage. For MC Alger, it is the opposite story. CAF Online noted that the Algerian club won the continental title in 1976 and would be seeking to go as far as possible in the competition 50 years on. Channels Television said the club would now pursue a second continental crown.

History repeating

There is a strange symmetry to the result. Blueprint reported that when the two clubs met in the 1976 African Cup of Champions Clubs semi-final, Rangers also won the first leg 2-0 before MC Alger won the return 3-0 and went on to lift the trophy.

Half a century later, the scorelines were identical, and the outcome the same.

MC Alger go into the 2026-27 group stage, a place CAF Online said was secured by their comeback. Rangers, according to Blueprint, now turn their attention to domestic football.

There is no time to dwell on it. Rangers are back in NPFL action on Saturday, when they travel to face Sporting Lagos at 15:00 UTC, the day after their continental exit.