CAF Champions League
HOLDERS ESPERANCE FIRST TO REACH CAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE LAST-EIGHT
Trophy-holders Esperance of Tunisia became the first qualifiers for the CAF Champions League quarter-finals after a routine 2-0 home win over Horoya of Guinea in Group B Friday.
Malian Hamed Assoko conceded an own-goal midway through the first half to put the three-time African champions ahead at the Stade Olympique in the Tunis suburb of Rades.
Esperance needed a second goal to be sure of success and it arrived seven minutes from time through Cameroonian midfield enforcer Franck Kom.
Victory for the Tunisian outfit maintained the last unbeaten record in the competition this season and guaranteed they will top the final standings.
The disappointment of Horoya was diluted by news from the other end of the continent that Orlando Pirates of South Africa were surprisingly held 2-2 at home by FC Platinum of Zimbabwe.
Pirates’ failure to win in Soweto means they must take maximum points from an away fixture against Horoya in Conakry next Saturday to overtake the Guineans and finish second.
The top two finishers after six rounds in the four groups advance to the quarter-finals stage of the Champions League, the elite African club competition.
Esperance have 11 points after five rounds, Horoya seven, Pirates six and Platinum just two from their first group-phase appearance.
Horoya centre-back Assoko has scored four goals in the Champions League this season, but two have been own-goals with his latest misfortune coming in Tunisia.
Kom, a midfielder more accustomed to preventing goals than scoring them, netted his first of the campaign to ensure Esperance of a third consecutive two-goal home victory.
Given a bye to the group stage because of fixture congestion, the Tunisian club are hoping to become the first club since Al Ahly of Egypt in 2013 to achieve back-to-back titles.
A Platinum side without a win in six qualifying and group matches were given little chance of dodging defeat away to Pirates, the 1995 African champions.
But after Nelson Tigere missed a penalty, he put the Zimbabwean outfit ahead and Rainsome Pavori doubled the lead before half-time at Orlando Stadium.
Platinum retained the two-goal advantage until nine minutes from time when unmarked Thembinkosi Lorch beat goalkeeper Petros Mhari at his near post with a low drive.
The goal galvanised the Soweto Buccaneers and Zambian Augustine Mulenga slammed a loose ball into the net on 87 minutes to raise hopes of a dramatic victory.
Platinum survived a late onslaught, however, to end a run of three straight losses despite having centre-back defender Kevin Moyo red-carded.
Meanwhile, Group C leaders CS Constantine of Algeria surprisingly fell 1-0 at home to Club Africain of Tunisia and surrendered an eight-match unbeaten record.
Ismaily of Egypt dropped out of contention for a quarter-finals place after being held 1-1 at home by five-time champions TP Mazembe from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Constantine (10 points), Mazembe (eight) and Africain (seven) are in the running to make the knockout phase with the odds favouring the Algerian and Congolese clubs.
- Cafonline
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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