CAF CC: Simba fail to sparkle in Morocco as Berkane pick win

• Simba remain second in Group D
• Berkane bounced back from last weekend’s shock thrashing against Asec
• NIger’s US Gendermarie picked their first group win

Tanzanian giants Simba SC’s hopes of storming to the top of Group D in the CAF Confederation Cup was steamed off after losing 2-0 to home side RS Berkane in Morocco on Sunday night.

Simba had come to match day three top of the group, but they couldn’t earn a victory away from home. They remained second with four points despite the loss while Berkane stormed to the top of the group.

First half goals from Adama Ba and Charki El Bahri were enough for Florent Ibenge’s men who moved to six points, two ahead of erstwhile table topping Simba.

Berkane were offensive from the word go and were clearly out to banish the ghosts from last weekend’s trip to Abidjan. They had a chance after 11 minutes when Hamza El Moussaoui rolled a freekick to Bakr El Helali, but his rasping shot from distance went just wide.

They ultimately got into the lead in the 32^nd minute when Adama’s brilliantly struck freekick from 35 yards out curled beyond the wall and hit the inside of the right hand post before bouncing into the net.

Adama almost doubled his and Berkane’s tally seven minutes later, but his shot after picking a cutback inside the box was deflected for a corner.

It is from this setpiece that Berkane won two more and on the third, they scored their second goal. El Bahri peeled himself beautifully from his markers before rising to thump home the delivery from El Moussaoui.

In the second half, Tanzanian giants Simba came back determined to get back into the game with the technical bench bringing in the speedy Bernard Morrison for Peter Banda.

Action between Simba and Berkane

But they still struggled to create chances and the closest they came was when skipper John Bocco rose to head from a freekick, but the ball bounced off the basement of the post.

Meanwhile, Niger’s US Gendermarie picked up their first win in the group after seeing off Asec Mimosas 2-0 in Niamey.

Second half goals from Gbeuli Wilfried and Victorien Adebayor handed the Niger side maximum points at home to move to four points.

It was a tight game but still had the chances. Asec’s Karim Konate had a chance when he struck a shot from range which was saved by the keeper while on the other end, Gbeuli had a shot cleared off the line.

In the second half, Asec thought they had a goal four minutes in, but Konate’s goal was ruled out for offside off a freekick.

It was the home side who would get the first goal of the tie, Gbeuli reacting quickest to head home the ball from close range after a header from range had been tipped against the crossbar by the keeper.

The goal gave the hosts some confidence while Asec began to chase, looking for an equalizer. While they threw bodies upfront to try get a goal, they were punished on the counter when Adebayor latched on to a long ball from Razak Seyni before slicing a low left footed shot into the net.