CAF Champions league matchday 2
Homeless Hilal on form, Maniema show their group of death credentials and Al Ahly stumble on South African soil again
Group A
When Al Hilal of Sudan were looking for somewhere to play, more than a year after being made homeless by the civil war that has torn apart the country, their only thought was to represent the country and bring joy to football fans in the country.
Dr Hassan Ali, the club’s general secretary put it this way, "It is a moral responsibility. It is not playing for winning points and cups. No, we play for our fans to keep their morale high."
Needless to say, they have done that, winning their second group game in the CAF Champions League at “home” in Mauritania against Congolese giants TP Mazemebe, setting them on their way to a first knockout appearance since 2015.
And they are going there in style. Jean-Claude Girumugisha’s rifled finish in the 91st minute won the game after Oscar Kabwit’s screamer had brought the away side level after Hilal captain and talisman Mohammed Abdel-Rahman won and scored a first half penalty.
Meanwhile in Algeria, MC Alger comfortably swatted aside Young Africans in a comfortable 2-0 win in which the visitors only registered three shots, none on target. Captain Ayoub Abdellaoui glanced home the opener in the 64th minute before substitute Soufiane Bayazid wrapped things up in the 95th minute after capitalising on a defensive mix up.
The result makes Yanga’s decision to sack Miguel Gamondi after a slow start in the league look hasty at best and leaves both Mazembe and Yanga desperate for a win as they face off in their double-header. Hilal meanwhile, travel to Algiers knowing that any result puts them in a terrific position.
Group B
The group of death is living up to its name! When ASFAR, Sundowns and Raja all came out of the hat, you knew it was going to be a shootout for those two places in the knockouts. What we perhaps didn’t know was that Maniema Union would also bring a gun to this group. After a backs to the wall draw in Pretoria against Sundowns, the Green and Blacks were far more adventurous against Raja.
While playing in Kinshasa, more than 1,000 kilometres from their home in Kindu, the Champions League debutants dominated possession and were good value for their equaliser, scored by Joseph Bakasu who smashed in from 25 yards. Despite playing on the backfoot, Raja were still dangerous and could’ve put the game out of sight after taking the lead through Youness Najari who capped off a lovely counter attack to put the Moroccans in front.
Back in Morocco, ASFAR played out the same result but in a far cagier game. Despite the rocking atmosphere at the Stade Ben Ahmed El Abdi in El Jadida there were few chances of note. Controlling possession as expected, Sundowns failed to register a shot. In the second half things opened up after Iqram Rayners scored a stunning volley off a pass from his keeper Ronwen Williams. ASFAR hit back quickly through Mohamed Rabie to keep them top.
After losing the Carling Cup final a few weeks ago to lowly Magesi, it seems that the two draws in the Champions League have put the nail in the coffin of Manqoba Mngqithi’s tenure at Sundowns. The Masandawa hierarchy are set to sack Mngqithi and bring in Miguel Cardoso who himself was only relieved of his duties at Espérance a month ago.
Group C
Al Ahly may be the kings of Africa but it seems their kingdom ends at the South African border. The Red Devils have now played 16 games in South Africa without a single win. They’ve registered nine draws in that time and it was another fairly drab affair in the Orlando Stadium as both sides will come away relatively pleased with a point each.
Both sides had their chances but it was Pirates who came closest when Relebohile Mofokeng had a free header from 10 yards but he could only head straight towards Mohamed El Shenawy.
CR Belouizdad took advantage of the stalemate in Soweto by beating Stade d’Abidjan in Côte d'Ivoire. Aymen Mahious scored the only goal of the game with a sharp turn and finish in the box following a mazy run from Abderrahmane Meziane. It was a much needed win for the Algerians who now face a double header against Al Alhy. Last season the pair were also in the same group and drew both games 0-0 but it wasn’t enough for the Algerians to progress out of the group. And with Pirates looking good on their comeback to continental football with a cup specialist coach in Jose Riveiro, the pressure will be on Belouizdad to at the very least equal their last season results against Al Ahly.
Group D
The fourth of the five 0-0s (who said African football was boring?), Djoliba and Pyramids did everything but score. Ahmed Samy nearly scored a spectacular own goal when he sliced his clearance while Marwan Hamdi came close after a comical mix up between keeper Youssouf Koita and his centre backs.
Ever since the club Al Assiouty Sport was bought and rebranded into Pyramids by Saudi billionaire and head of the Saudi Sports Authority Turki Al-Sheikh (you’ll recognise him from every single boxing or sporting event in Saudi in the last few years) and subsequently bought by Emirati investor Salem Al-Shamsi, the club has wanted continental success.
Egypt’s most hated club reached the final of the Confederation Cup but since Zamelek’s downturn in the last couple years they have narrowed the gap to the two Cairo giants and have come out swinging in their first Champions League campaign. With a gentler draw and a first round 5-1 thrashing of Segrada Esperança, they look like at their first attempt they may be able to reach the knockouts.
Just a day after Espérance found out they would be playing Chelsea, Flamengo and Club León in the Club World Cup this summer they were tamed by a Sagrada Esperança side that sit fifth in the Angolan Girabola. It’s perhaps a stark reminder to Romanian manager Laurentiu Reghecampf that this is not the all conquering Espérance side of 2018 and 2019 and there is a lot of work to do ahead of the Club World Cup.
But in a league that is tremendously competitive (Espérance currently sit fifth but are just two points off Stade Tunisien in first) and no room for failure in the Champions league, Reghecampf has to hit the ground running.
