CAF Champions League
Giants progress in CAF Champions League
The first preliminary round of the CAF Champions League reached its climax on Sunday, with several heavyweight clubs securing their passage to the next stage of Africa’s premier club competition.
In a difficult turnaround, AS FAR Rabat of Morocco overturned a 2-1 first-leg deficit against Nigeria’s Remo Stars, winning 2-0 in Rabat.
Congolese striker Joël Beya broke the deadlock in the 52nd minute, before Zouhzouh sealed the victory with a penalty in the 80th minute, propelling the Moroccan side into the second preliminary round.
Algeria’s CR Bélouizdad continued their impressive form, securing a 1-0 victory over AC Léopards of Congo, thanks to a 24th-minute strike from Benguit.
This win, following their 2-0 first-leg triumph, sets up an intriguing clash with Burkina Faso’s AS Douanes in the next round.
AS Douanes progressed on away goals after two draws against Benin’s Coton FC, highlighting the fine margins in continental competition.
Ghana’s Samartex emphatically stamped their authority on their tie against Cameroon’s Victoria United, winning 1-0 at home to complete a 2-0 aggregate victory.
Isaac Afful’s 8th-minute goal extinguished any hopes of a Cameroonian comeback, setting up a mouth-watering second-round clash with African giants Raja Casablanca.
In other notable results, Cote d’Ivoire champions San Pedro edged past Sierra Leone’s BO Rangers with a 1-0 win, while Congo’s AS Maniema Union held their nerve to defeat Zimbabwe’s Ngezi Platinum on penalties after two goalless draws.
Togo’s ASKO Kara also progressed, beating Equatorial Guinea’s Deportivo Mongomo 1-0 thanks to an early goal from new signing Adam Musah.
However, the day was not without its upsets. FC Nouadhibou of Mauritania, surprise participants in last season’s group stage, were eliminated on away goals by Guinea’s Milo FC.
The second preliminary round promises even more excitement, with matches scheduled from September 13 to 15 for the first legs, and September 23 to 25 for the return fixtures.
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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