CAF Champions League
AL AHLY’S HEART NOT LARGE ENOUGH!
Egypt’s Ahly failed in their near-impossible bid to stage a historic comeback from five goals down as they were eliminated from the African Champions League quarters after only claiming a 1-0 home win over South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns on Saturday.
According to Al Ahram, despite being roared on by tens of thousands of supporters at Alexandria’s Borg El-Arab Stadium, Ahly hardly made their dominance count after failing to break down the resolute visitors for long spells.
Their first goal came too late for the Red Devils to stage a comeback, with Walid Azaro heading home eight minutes past the hour mark.
They also wasted several clear-cut chances and Nigerian forward Junior Ajayi had a goal harshly disallowed for offside early in the second half.
But Ahly could have few complaints after a disastrous first-leg display in Pretoria saw them lose 5-0 for their first worst ever defeat in an African competition.
Despite bowing out at the quarter-final stage, in stark contrast to the previous two seasons when they reached the final on both occasions, Ahly’s players were greeted by their supporters following the final whistle.
The demanding fans called on the Cairo giants to win a fourth straight Egyptian Premier League title, which they top in a tight and increasingly thrilling race with arch rivals Zamalek and big-spending Pyramids FC.
Inspired form
Ahly laid siege to Sundowns’ area from the outset but with veteran keeper Denis Onyango in inspired form, they could not find the early breakthrough they desperately needed.
The Uganda international smothered a close-range angled effort from Azaro early on and blocked another volley from the Moroccan striker after he robbed a Sundowns defender.
In between, the best chance of the half fell to central midfielder Amr El-Sulaya, whose superb curling effort struck the upright, with Onyango finally beaten.
Ajayi tucked away a rebound just after the restart but Gambian referee Bakary Gassama ruled the goal out, although television replays suggested that the deep-lying forward was not in an offside position.
Failing to score at least a goal until this point took the wind out of Ahly’s sails, with their spirits dampened and the fans appearing resigned to a looming elimination.
But there was still room for some consolation, with Azaro sending a powerful header home following an inviting cross from experienced right-back Ahmed Fathi, who was an otherwise peripheral figure.
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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