CAF Champions League
Nigeria’s Junior Ajayi is Hero of Al Ahly’s Victory
Al Ahly of Egypt shocked hosts Esperance of Tunisia 2-1 Saturday to reach the CAF Champions League semi-finals with Nigerian Junior Ajayi scoring the decisive goal.
After holding record eight-time champions Ahly 2-2 in Alexandria last weekend, Esperance took a second-leg lead through leading scorer Taha Yassine Khenissi off a 40th-minute penalty.
Tunisian defender Ali Maaloul levelled for Ahly soon after half-time and midfielder Ajayi struck the crucial second goal on 62 minutes.
Winning at the 60,000-capacity Stade Olympique in Tunis suburb Rades gave Ahly a 4-3 overall victory and a semi-finals date with Etoile Sahel of Tunisia or Al Ahly Tripoli of Libya.
History repeated itself as Ahly won 2-1 at the same ground to win the 2012 Champions League final after being held at home in the first leg.
“Nothing has been decided,” Ahly coach Hossam El Badry warned the Tunisian media after the first leg last Saturday in which the Egyptians had to come from behind to draw.
Ahly had not impressed on the road in previous Champions League matches this season, winning only one of four, and failing to score in three matches.
The home form of Esperance had been good with three victories, and a draw against defending champions Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa.
USM Alger of Algeria also reached the semi-finals, but not in the anticipated manner after only drawing 0-0 at home against surprise quarter-finalists Ferroviario Beira of Mozambique.
Favoured to win comfortably having struck 11 goals in four other home Champions League matches, USM scraped through on away goals after a 1-1 aggregate tie.
Ferroviario, who had conceded 11 goals on the road during four losses, bowed out after a brave showing in Algiers.
Sundowns defend a 1-0 lead over Wydad Casablanca of Morocco in Rabat late Saturday and Etoile host Ahly Tripoli Sunday after a goalless first leg.
Nigeria’s sole survivor into the second round of the CAF Champions League, Enugu Rangers have crashed out of the competition. They lost 3-1 to Angola’s Sagrada Esperança this Sunday in Luanda.
The aggregate scoreline is 3-2 as Rangers last weekend won their home game 1-0. Sagrada Esperança opened the game with offensive and got their first goal barely six minutes into the game when Alexandre Fernando found the back of the net.
The hosts doubled their lead in the 33rd minute through Mussa. But four minutes later, Enugu Rangers reduced the tally to 2-1 to carry an away goal advantage into half time.
Jamie Pimpao got the much needed goal for Angola in the 67th minute to seal the hopes of Rangers.
Sagrada Esperança will now go into next month’s draw for the draw of the group stage.
CAF Champions League 2nd Preliminary Round action resumed on Saturday, 14 September following the resumption of the Africa’s premium club competition on Friday.
It was mostly the travelling teams that secured victories away from home on Saturday, who put themselves in fairly comfortable situations ahead of the return leg next week.
Orlando Pirates had a mental obstacle to overcome in Gaborone against Jwaneng Galaxy, having to face the same side that eliminated them in the same phase of the competition last season.
The former champions secured a 2-0 victory in Gaborone to put themselves in a comfortable position ahead of the return leg next weekend.
Five-time champions, TP Mazembe were away to Red Arrows in Zambia where they also put two past their hosts ahead of the return leg in Lubumbashi.
Mamelodi Sundowns, who played their away match in the comfort of their home stadium against Swaziland’s Mbabane Swallows made use of home ground advantage with a comfortable 4-0 win over their neighbours.
Tanzanian champions, Young Africans secured a hard-fought 1-0 win over CBE SA of Rwanda as Tanzanian giants continue to chase a continental title.
It was a rather tough outing for Moroccan outfit, AS FAR when they travelled to Sudan to face Al Merrikh. A highly entertaining encounter concluded with a 2-2 draw, ahead of the return leg in Morocco.
Egyptian side, Pyramids FC also played out to a draw when they were held 1-1 by APR FC in Rwanda.
Burkina Faso side, Association Sportive des Douanes out up an impressive showing when they edged Algeria’s CR Belouizdad by 1-0.
The first leg of the 2nd Preliminary Round concludes on Sunday, with five interesting encounters lined up, including reigning champions Al Ahly kick starting their title defense away from home.
TotalEnergies CAF Champions League Results & Fixtures:
Friday, 13 September
Enugu Rangers 1 – 0 Sagrada Esperanca
Monastir 0 – 1 MC Alger
Saturday, 14 September
CBE SA 0 – 1 Young Africans
Red Arrows 0 – 2 TP Mazembe
Al-Merrikh 2 – 2 AS FAR
Jwaneng Galaxy FC 0 – 2 Orlando Pirates FC
Maniema Union 2 – 1 Petro de Luanda
Djoliba 1 – 0 ASKO
Douanes 1 – 0 CR Belouizdad
Sunday, 15 September
12h00 GMT | Gor Mahia vs Al Ahly
15h00 GMT | Samartex vs Raja CA
16h00 GMT | San Pedro vs Al-Hilal
16h00 GMT | Dekedaha vs ES Tunis
19h00 GMT | Stade d’Abidjan vs Milo FC
The return leg fixtures of the 2nd Preliminary stage will be played between 20 – 22 September.
-CAF
Enugu Rangers’ patchy form in the CAF Champions League continues as they struggled to beat visiting Angola’s Sagrada Esperance 1-0 in the first leg match played at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo.
It was in similar fashion that they played against Union Sportive de Zilimadjou of Comoros Islands who they beat 2-1 over two legs in Uyo.
Rangers’ lone goal was scored by Kazeem Ogunleye in the 80th minute.
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