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Casablanca and Esperance are leading the race to the quarterfinal but their Egyptian counterparts are struggling to find the right codes.
There were celebrations and upsets galore as the 2022/23 CAF Champions League group stages completed its first round of matches.
There are two games involving African representatives to the FIFA World Cup Al Ahly and Wydad Casablanca that are pending but the groups now have a semblance of what we should expect in the final bend.
Casablanca and Esperance are leading the race to the quarterfinal but their Egyptian counterparts are struggling to find the right codes.
Vita throws spanner in the works
Holders Wydad Casablanca and two-time champions JS Kabylie were expected to ease through Group A which has Sub-Saharan minnows Petro de Luanda and AS Vita but the latter’s 1-0 win over the Algerians threw the permutations into a messy situation.
Lema Mabidi scored in the 65th to give the Kinshasa-based side their first win after stumbling 2-1 to Petro Luanda in the first match held in neighbouring Brazzaville city in Congo.
Wydad had to rely on Yahya Jabrane’s penalty kick to scrap their first win in the group. The Moroccans fell to a similar result to Kyablie in their first game. The results leave Luanda and Kyblie in the green spots with four points each while Vita and Wydad remain a point lesser with a game at hand.
Wydad was welcoming their fans back from a stadium ban.
Ahly in peril
Record ten-time champions Al Ahly have reason to worry after failing to hold on for the last ten minutes to protect their win against Mamelodi Sundowns. The Egyptians found themselves trailing Mamelodi Sundowns for almost half an hour to the 60th minute but two quick goals by Ahmed Abdelmonem and Hassan El Shahat gave them the lifeline. Still, they could only count for a point at the end as Thapelo Morena thundered in inside the final ten minutes to spilt the points.
Sundowns and Sudanese side Al Hilal lead Group B with seven and six points while the Egyptians are down with only one.
Raja Casablanca, Esperance Invisible
If one side of Casablanca is struggling to light up, the other half is glowing with pride as Raja Casablanca remains the only other team besides Esperance with a 100 percent record.
The Group C leaders easily brushed aside AC Horoya 2-0 to hit nine points through goals from Hamza Kabba and Noufel Zerhouni.
Kabba became the first player this season to score in three consecutive games while scoring all the openers for Raja in the group. The ‘The People's Club’ needs three points from their remaining three games to seal a slot in the quarters.
Horoya remains second with four points despite the loss as Simba chase from close range with three points following their 1-0 win against Vipers in Kampala.
In Group D, Tunisian giants Esperance continued with their form with a 2-0 victory over Zamalek in Tunis. Esperance and Raja have yet to lose a game and haven’t conceded a goal in 270 minutes.
Zamalek remains bottom with only a point, three and two behind Sudanese side AL Merrikh and Algeria’s CR Belouizdad who occupy 2nd and third places.
Only the top two from each group will advance.
CAF Champions League
Matchday 3 results
Group A
Wydad Casablanca 1-0 Petro de Luanda
AS Vita 1-0 JS Kabylie
Group B
Al Ahly 2-2 Mamelodi Sundowns.
Coton Sport 1-2 Al Hilal
Group C
Raja Casablanca 2-0 AC Horoya
Vipers 0-1 Simba
Group D
Esperance 2-0 Zamalek
AL Merrikh 1-0 CR Belouizdad
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