CAF Champions League
Morocco’s Wydad Casablanca book place in African Champions’ League final in Casablanca
True to expectations, Wydad Casablanca booked their place in the African Champions League final following a 1-1 draw at home against Petro Atletico on Friday and will thus play the one-legged final match on home soil.
The Moroccan club progressed 4-2 on aggregate after their 3-1 win in Luanda in the first leg last weekend.
Wydad will face either holders Al Ahly or Algeria’s Entente Setif in the final in Morocco at the end of the month.
Egyptian giants Ahly have a 4-0 advantage heading into the second leg of their semi-final tie on Saturday (19:00 GMT).
Angolan outfit Petro had needed to score three goals in Casablanca to have a chance to reach the final for the first time, and took a surprise 21st minute lead when Brazilian import Gleison scored with with a long-range shot after cutting in from the right flank.
However, seven minutes later Wydad centre-back Amine Ferhane headed home an equaliser from a corner.
Petro had more possession after that but could not score again in front of a huge, vocal, largely red-clad home crowd.
Substitute Yano went close with an effort from distance in the second half and right at the death home keeper Ahmed Reda Tagnaouti made a superb double save to block a shot from Anderson Cruz and the rebound from Job.
Two-time winners Wydad are into the Champions League final for the fifth time – with their most recent appearance in 2019, when they lost to Esperance of Tunisia.
Row over final venue
The final is due to be played in Morocco on Monday, 30 May, but Al Ahly have appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport over the choice of venue.
The Cairo club argue that the decision by the Confederation of African Football (Caf) “violates laws and regulations” and will give Wydad home advantage.
Caf insists Morocco was the only candidates to host the match after Senegal, the other bidder, withdrew from the running.
Wydad last won the title in 2017, beating record 10-time champions Ahly 2-1 in a two-legged encounter.
Caf says talks are under way to revert from the current one-off final to the previous home-and-away format.
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.
CAF Champions League
VIDEO: Controversial penalty kick remains a talking point in Remo Stars’ elimination
But for the questionable penalty kick awarded for AS FAR of Morocco in the 78th minute of the tension-soaked CAF Champions League duel with Remo Stars on Sunday in Rabat, the complexion of the final result as well as the aggregate scorelines may have been different.
Match scoreline stood at 1-1 before the referee, Adissa Abdul Raphiou Ligali of Benin Republic, who was midway to the centre circle suddenly blew his whistle and awarded a penalty kick to the hosts.
Before then, all body contacts had been ruled against Remo Stars. Even, the Moroccans looked amused when the referee, who was off the scene suddenly ran into the penalty area and awarded a penalty kick for an incident, even if it were an infraction, happened outside the penalty box.
The award of the penalty kick and the conversion by El Amine Zouhzouh, literaly sealed Remo Stars thin hope of advancing.
The Nigerian side left it too late as they only came out to attack after their hopes had been sealed.
In starting the crucial match, their lead scorer, Sikiru Alimi and assist master, Sodiq Ismail were brought in only after the damage had been done. It was after the first goal in the 51st minute that Alimi was brought in in the 54th minute.
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