CAF Champions League
TYAVKASE: NO MARGIN FOR ERRORS AGAINST WYDAD IN CAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE TIE
On Sunday, no quarter would be asked and none would be given when Lobi Stars entertain Wydad Athletic Club of Morocco on Match Day 3 at the Nnamdi Azikwe Stadium.
The match,
originally slated for Saturday is pushed to Sunday as the Enugu stadium venue will
be used for political campaign this Saturday.
According to Cafonline, this much is the prediction of experienced Lobi Stars’
midfielder David Tyavkase, a veteran of many continental cup battles dating
back to his days with Enyimba where he successively won the CAF Champions
League in 2003 and 2004 as well as the Africa Super Cup in 2004 and 2005.
“During my stint with Enyimba, I never played against Wydad but I played
against Raja Club Athletic of Morocco; and generally, we know what most teams
from North Africa can do,” the 34-year-old Tyavkase said in an interview with
CAFOnline.com.
“It is true that Wydad has so far shown good form in this competition but it’s
up to us to stop them on Saturday in Enugu.”
Described as a ‘game changer’ by coach Solomon Ogbeide partly for Tyavkase’s
ability to come off the bench to score vital goals for his side; aside his near
to two decades experience playing at international levels for both club and
country.
Tyavkase said Lobi Stars must be up and running in this weekend’s tie against
their battle-hardened North African visitors with whom they contest for quarter
final tickets in a seemingly tough Group A complete with ASEC Mimosas and
Mamelodi Sundowns.
Incidentally, all the four teams have so far have identical results after they
have each recorded just a win and and lost in previous two matches.
“We have to be very fit and alert throughout the match against Wydad,”
noted Tyavkase, a former Nigerian international who won four (4) domestic
league titles with Enyimba.
“From my experience, the first 45 minutes and 10 minutes into the second half
are the most dangerous periods playing against any team from North Africa; and
we must be very alert because Wydad will come hard on us.
“We need the three points from this encounter because any of the four
teams in the group can go through; I believe we have the team that can play
against the best on the continent.”
Tyavkase who had a brief stint with US Bitam of Gabon en route to Lobi Stars
said the playing body will gird their loins against their Moroccan counterparts
to keep their campaign alive.
“We want to win on Friday in order to be in good position before we travel for
the second leg in Morocco,” noted the midfielder.
Meanwhile, in the other Group A tie billed for Friday, Mamelodi Sundowns hosts
ost ASEC Mimosas at the Loftus Stadium in Pretoria as the competition reaches
the half way mark.
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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