MC Alger 3-0 Rangers: three second-half goals end the champions' Champions League run

For 84 minutes in Algiers, Rangers were going through. Then they weren't. Six days after winning the first leg 2-0 with ten men in Abeokuta, the NPFL champions lost 3-0 at the Ali La Pointe Stadium and went out 3-2 on aggregate, with the decisive goal arriving in stoppage time.

How it unravelled

Rangers held out until the 58th minute, when Chahreddine Boukholda headed in at the back post after a corner was flicked on. That made it 2-1 on aggregate and gave MC Alger more than half an hour to find another.

Abuchi Okeke kept Rangers ahead when he saved a penalty from Mohamed Bangoura about ten minutes later. But Bangoura made up for it in the 84th minute, finishing from close range after Okeke had saved a header, to level the tie at 2-2. Two minutes into added time, Soufiane Bayazid met another corner at the near post and the comeback was complete.

Two of the three goals came from corners. After a first leg in which Rangers defended so well for so long with a man down, that is the part that will hurt most.

What it means

Daily Trust reports that a first ever group-stage appearance slipped away for Rangers. With Rivers United already out in the first preliminary round, Nigeria will have no club in the CAF Champions League group stage this season. The club's own message after the game was short: it ends in heartbreak, they fought valiantly, and the journey ends here.

The reports we have seen do not mention a move into the CAF Confederation Cup, so we are not assuming one. We will update this page if CAF or the club confirm any further continental football.

Back to the league

Rangers now turn to the NPFL, where they are level with Rivers United on 17 points with a game in hand, and two postponed matches to fit in. Their Matchday 10 game against Sporting Lagos was postponed for this tie. See this weekend's fixtures in our Matchday 10 Weekend Board, and relive the first leg in Abeokuta.