Medeama 1-0 Remo Stars – Sky Blue Stars suffer first-leg defeat in Cape Coast

Medeama 1-0 Remo Stars – Sky Blue Stars suffer first-leg defeat in Cape Coast
Credit: Icon Sport

Remo Stars suffered a blow in their bid to qualify for the group stage of the CAF Champions League following a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Ghana Premier League champions Medeama Stars.

With the winner of the tie scheduled to face off against Horoya FC of Guinea, both Medeama and Remo Stars went in search of a crucial first-leg advantage at TNA Park.

Medeama vs Remo Stars – As it happened

Unbeaten in their last 14 matches across all competitions, Daniel Ogunmodede’s men kicked off the clash on the front foot as they looked to exert themselves early on.

However, the momentum of the game quickly changed as Medeama started to dominate proceedings, and it was no surprise that they broke the deadlock in the 21st minute through a deflected effort from Jonathan Sowah, who wasted no time continuing his goalscoring heroics from last season, where he netted twice in the final game.

Having gone behind, Remo Stars rekindled their attacking impetus but had to wait until the 49th minute for their biggest opportunity of the contest.

The Nigerian outfit made two substitutions just after halftime and so nearly reaped the dividends immediately when Seun Ogunribide provided a pin-point delivery, which was spurned by Sikiru Alimi.

That proved to be a much-needed wake-up call for the home side, who grew into the second period as the game progressed, albeit with little threat of adding to their lead.

After 96 minutes of action, the referee sounded the final whistle, leaving Remo Stars with a mountain to climb heading into Saturday’s second leg on home turf.

Remo Stars will need an attacking masterclass on home turf

While they will be disappointed to have come away from the first leg trailing, Remo Stars are far from beaten, especially when you consider their recent record on home turf.

Since suffering defeat to AS FAR Rabat in the qualifiers for last season’s CAF Confederations Cup, the Sky Blue Stars have not suffered defeat in front of their fans.

However, their goalscoring record has left a lot to be desired, as they have only managed to score more than one goal in three of their most recent 11 home encounters.

Remo Stars need at least two goals to guarantee them qualification, and the Ikenne-based outfit will have to up the ante at the top end of the pitch to keep their dreams of a debut appearance in Africa’s premier club competition alive.

This article was most recently revised and updated 1 year ago

Chandan is a passionate writer, editor, and marketer with a love for football. He has bylines in leading online publications and has worked with renowned sports brands like The Olympics, Fox Sports Asia, and the Indian Super League (ISL). As for the unimpressive part, he loves Chelsea.