- Simba won 2-0 against Wydad
- Yanga beat Medeama of Ghana 3-0
- Ivorian side Asec Mimosas is the first to qualify for the quarters
Simba and Yanga SC clinched crucial victories in the CAF Champions League, as the two Tanzanian giants put up their bids to qualify for the quarter finals of this year’s showpiece. Both sides picked wins at home that moved each second in their respective groups.
Simba put their campaign back on track with a well worked 2-0 victory at home against Wydad Athletic Club. Willy Essomba Onana scored both goals for Simba, as they moved to five points, and second in Group B.
Wydad suffered their third defeat in the group and drop to bottom with three points, and now under real danger of missing out on the quarter finals. Wydad, last year’s finalists, were under the tutelage of new coach Fouazi Benzarti, but their fortunes didn’t change.
Playing at home, Simba were high in confidence as they knew only victory would put their campaign well on track. They started well, though Wydad had some chances, with Sambou Bouly being denied by Ayoub Lakred in the Simba goal.
The home side broke the deadlock in the 36th minute when Onana struck from the edge of the box on the half volley after being teed up by Kibu Dennis.
Onana then doubled the lead just wto minutes later, finishing a well crafted team move that saw Clatous Chama send him through into the box with a peach of a through ball.
Despite second half efforts, Wydad could not recover.
Yanga revive hopes with Medeama win
Yanga’s Mudathir Yahya celebrates his goial against Medeama. PHOTO/Yanga
Meanwhile, Yanga revived their hopes of making the last eight after a well worked 3-0 victory over Ghanaian side Medeama in Dar es Salaam.
Goals from Pacome Zouzozua, skipper Bakari Mwamnyeto and Mudathir Yahya gave Wanajangwani the victory that pushes them to five points, same as leaders Al Ahly who have played a match less.
After a positive start which had seen Kennedy Musonda miss a golden chance early on, Zouzoua broke the deadlock after 33 minutes with a well taken shot from the edge of the box which beat the keeper to his bottom right.
Medeama had a chance to drawn back level just after halftime, but Jonathan Sowah saw his penalty saved by Yanga’s Malian goalkeeper Djigui Diarra.
Yanga doubled their tally in the 61st minute when Musonda’s header from a corner deflected off his captain Mwamnyeto into the net, the latter being credited with the goal.
Yahya then completed the victory for Yanga five minutes later when Stephen Aziz Ki pickpocketed a Medeama defender as they tried to play out from the back, feeding the Tanzanian international who made no mistake in getting the ball into the net.
With a 3-0 cushion, Yanga were more comfortable and they enjoyed the rest of the game under little pressure. Sowah’s day went from bad to worse as on top of his penalty miss, he was sent off late in the second half for a second yellow card.
Asec Mimosas into quarter finals
Asec celebrate one of their goals. PHOTO/Asec
Elsewhere, Ivorian outfit Asec Mimosas became the first team to qualify for the quarter finals of the CAF Champions League after a brilliant 3-0 home victory over Botswana’s Jwaneng Galaxy.
The victory moved Asec to 10 points on top of Group B and this means the worst they can finish in the group, with two rounds of matches to play, is second spot. They are six points ahead of third placed Jwaneng and seven ahead of bottom side Wydad.
Against Jwaneng, who had a good start to the group phase, Asec were in no mood to let their guard down and they put up a brilliant performance, Leibe Junior Avo, Essis Aka and Karamoko Sankara handing the victory at home.
They went into the lead as early as the 11th minute, Avo breaking the deadlock after picking a cut back from Wonlo Coulibaly to shoot into an empty net with the keeper off his line.
They continued battling, the Botswana side proving too hard to crack. But they eventually crumbled late in the game when Aka slammed the ball home first time off a Mofosse Karidoula pass.
They cemented their victory in the first minute of added time when Sankara scored into an empty net after pickpocketing the ball off a Jwaneng player, rounding the keeper and scoring less than two minutes on the pitch.
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