Lagos — Nigeria's continental hopefuls Nasarawa United Sunday emphatically thumped visiting Al Hilal of Sudan 3-0 to put themselves in a good stead for the prestigious group stages of the CAF Champions League.

Shehu Dauda open scoring on the dot of 45 minutes after both sides put up a display of the best soccer African clubs have to offer. The game was tight, but that goal by Dauda deflected the resilience of the Hilal defence, it was a grounder, which came out of the blues and had it the Sudanese reeling in amazement. Before the goal Hilal were riding the storm with Nigerian imports Kelechi Osunwa and Mohammed Yusuf probing the Nasarawa area for goals.

At the break Seun Falodun shook the Hilal net with a beautiful goal in the eight minute of play and a back breaker by Philip Savior followed midway into the second half, when he curled a free kick home to the delight of the Nasarawa fans.

Nasarawa coach Daniel Amokachi expressed delight with the result adding that the team did its homework and deserved the win.

"The team is always well prepared ahead of any game and I am not surprised with the outcome I've always knew that we were going to come out clean and for the second leg, will do all we can to keep or heads high," Amokachi stated.

However, Hilal coach Ricardo Ferreira blamed the bumpy nature of the pitch for their loss; he said that Nasarawa will pay, when they met in the second leg.

"We couldn't play good football because of the bad pitch, however, we have not lost out totally, we are going back home to prepare for the second leg and will surely get the result we want," said the Brazilian born coach who has been with the Sudanese top club since 2005.