Ivorian club Athletico d’Abidjan made a strong start to the CAF Women’s Champions League WAFU Zone B qualifiers with a 2-0 victory over Togolese side Amis du Monde on Tuesday.

In their opening match in Group B match, the Ivorian champions showed their quality against their regional opponents in Benin City in Nigeria

The decisive goals came late in the first half and early in the second period thanks to Sandrine Niamien who scored all the goals.

Niamien confidently converted a 41st minute penalty to give Athletico the lead heading into half-time.

Just 12 minutes after the break, she doubled the advantage by tapping in at the far post to make it 2-0.

Despite battling hard, Amis du Monde could not find a way back into the contest before the final whistle.

The 2-0 result secures Athletico’s place in the zonal semi-finals as they aim to qualify for the CAF Women’s Champions League finals.

With reigning champions Ampem Darkoa of Ghana also in their group, Athletico have laid down an early marker in the race to emerge from the WAFU Zone B qualifiers.

The result means Amis du Monde have crashed out of the competition as they lost their opening match of the tournament Ampem Darkoa Ladies of Ghana.

Meanwhile in the earlier match of the day, Burkina Faso side USFA were held to a goalless draw by Sam Nelly of Benin.