LUBUMBASHI — Former champions TP Mazembe of DR Congo and Petro de Luanda of Angola battled to a goalless draw in the first-leg of their CAF Champions League quarter-final clash in Lubumbashi.
Elsewhere, Young Africans of Tanzania and Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa played out to a highly tactical 0-0 stalemate in their first-leg quarter-final clash in Dar er Salaam.
A packed to the rafters Benjamin Mkapa Stadium saw 60,000 Tanzanians in full voice to witness last season’s CAF Confederation Cup finalists taking on the inaugural African Football League champions.
While the fixture failed to produce a goal, the match was nothing short of entertaining as both sides gave it their all but were met with equally good defending and goalkeeping on either side.
True to their enterprising style, Sundowns kept most of the ball possession, hoping to tire out their hosts who stood their ground and responded with quick counter-attacks, cafonline reported.
Yanga were the first to have a sniff at goal in the 27th minute when Clement Mzize was through on goal but disappointingly fired a straight shot that was easily gathered by the in-form Ronwen Williams.
With just seconds before the break, Teboho Mokoena unleashed one of his trademark long distance strikes which almost caught Djigui Diarra off guard.
Coming back from the recess, it was the hosts who had the better chances, despite Sundowns having more of the possession.
Mzize was back in the Sundowns danger area again in the 57th minute when he rose above his markers to connect with a Stephane Aziz Ki cross that went just off target with Williams rooted to the ground.
Yanga’s best opportunity came in the 68th minute when Kennedy Musonda found himself one-on-one with Williams, but it was the Sundowns shot stopper who came out top as he made the save to deny the hosts the lead.
The match continued to be a highly tactical affair, with both sides attacking with caution and defending in numbers as it ended goalless.
The two sides will meet again at Pretoria’s Loftus Versfeld Stadium for the return leg next weekend where the winner will be decided in what promises to be highly entertaining return fixture.
Egyptian giants Al-Ahly also displayed their experience as they managed a hard-fought 1-0 win over Simba of Tanzania in the quarter-final first-leg at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium Friday night.
Ahmed Kouka’s sole goal takes Al-Ahly to Cairo next week where they will be hoping to wrap up the two-legged tie with a win in front of their fans.
Al-Ahly has not won on their last three visits to the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium, registering two losses and a draw.
The two giants face each other next Friday at the Cairo International Stadium with Ahly strongly-placed to emerge aggregate winners and will face Petro Luanda of Angola or TP Mazembe of the Democratic Republic of Congo in the semi-finals.
Ahly has won the Champions League a record 11 times while Mazembe have been champions five times, Esperance on four occasions, and ASEC and Sundowns once each.
This is the fourth quarter-final appearance by Simba since the competition underwent a format change in 1997, and a fourth exit at the last-eight stage is looming.
For the first time in the Champions League, only two qualifiers for the knockout stage, Ahly and Esperance, come from the powerful North African region. The previous low was four.
The 22-year-old midfielder struck his first goal of the African campaign in the fourth minute.
A superb pass from Amr el-Solia set up Mohamed Hany to cross and a mix-up in the Simba defence allowed Koko to fire past Moroccan goalkeeper Ayoub Lakred.
Simba had chances, but some brilliant goalkeeping by Mostafa Shobeir, wild shooting and a lack of goalmouth sharpness cost the hosts, AFP reported.
Shobeir, son of former Egypt and Ahly shot-stopper Ahmed Shobeir, is proving a capable deputy for captain Mohamed el-Shenawy, who was injured at the 2024 Africa Cup of Nations.
In the 22nd minute, Clatous Chama came dangerously close to pulling one back, but Ahly goalkeeper Shobeir reacted quickly to divert it to safety, cafonline reported.
In the 38th minute, Shobeir was again called upon to make a stop when Kanoute’s piercing shot caught the keeper off guard.
Al-Ahly coach Marcel Koller re-shuffled the pack after the hour mark, as Bafana Bafana forward Percy Tau and Hussein el-Shahat made way for Taher Mohamed and Reda Slim to bolster the midfield, as Simba upped the pressure.
As expected, the hosts were the first to ask questions of their opponents as early as the first minute after an inviting ball into the danger area connected with the head of Sadio Kanoute whose effort went just over the bar.
However, it was the defending champions who drew first blood after Hany drove down the right flank to send a dangerous ball that almost went in as an own goal but rebounded off the keeper for Kouka to fire home from close range.
