Pirates advance on busy Confederation Cup Sunday

by Graeme Jackson

Sunday Feb 21, 2021. 21:52

Orlando Pirates have joined several fellow heavyweights in advancing into the CAF Confederation Cup group stage after a busy weekend of playoff round action in the second-tier continental competition.

The Buccaneers were never under threat at home to Botswana’s Jwaneng Galaxy, having won 3-0 away in the first leg last weekend, and a second-half goal from Linda Mntambo wrapped up a 1-0 (4-0 aggregate) triumph and a spot in the next round of the CAFCC.

JS Kabylie, NAPSA Stars and Coton Sport also secured progression in their afternoon clashes, and an all-Nigerian derby between saw Enyimba narrowly edge out rivals Rivers United.

The People’s Elephant were beaten 1-0 in Port Harcourt on Sunday (Malachi Ohawuma netted for Rivers) to leave the tie locked at 1-1, but they were able to emerge 5-4 winners on penalties, with John Noble netting the decisive kick.

Morocco’s Raja Casablanca and Libya’s Al Ahly Benghazi also won on penalties against Tunisian side US Monastir and DR Congo’s Motema Pembe respectively.

The evening games opened with Senegalese powerhouses ASC Diaraf defeating Zimbabwe’s FC Platinum 1-0 (2-0 on aggregate) thanks to a strike from El Hadji Kane, while Pyramids of Egypt – runners-up in last season’s Confed Cup – trumped RC Abidjan of Ivory Coast 2-0 (4-0 on aggregate). Tanzania’s Namungo also thumped Angola’s Primeiro de Agosto 6-2 in their re-arranged first-leg meeting.

Algeria’s ES Setif eliminated Ghana’s Asante Kotoko 2-1 on aggregate after their goalless stalemate, Burkina Faso’s Salitas secured a thrilling 3-1 (3-2 on aggregate) triumph over Bouenguidi of Gabon, and Zambia’s Nkana lost 2-1 at TAS Casablanca but advanced 3-2 on aggregate, with Simon Mulenga’s away goal proving the key body blow against the Morrocan hopefuls.

Saturday’s lone match saw AS Kigali and CS Sfaxien draw 1-1 in the Rwandan capital, though the Tunisians – who are three-time CAFCC champions – advanced comfortably with a 5-2 aggregate triumph.

The following ties are still to be completed: Etoile du Sahel v Young Buffaloes and Primeiro de Agosto v Namungo. The 15 aggregate winners in the playoff round advance to join reigning champions RS Berkane of Morocco in the group stage. The draw for the group stage is scheduled to be held on Monday 22 February at the CAF headquarters in Cairo.

CAF Confederation Cup weekend results

Playoff round, second-leg results. Aggregate score in parenthesis.

Saturday 20 February

AS Kigali 1-1 CS Sfaxien (2-5)

Sunday 21 February

US Monastir 1-0 Raja Casablanca (1-1 – Raja won 6-5 on penalties)

NAPSA Stars 2-2 Gor Mahia (3-2)

DC Motema Pembe 1-1 Al Ahly Benghazi (2-2 – Al Ahly won 8-7 on penalties)

Primeiro de Agosto 2-6 Namungo (first-leg result)

Coton Sport 1-0 AS SONIDEP (2-0)

JS Kabylie 1-0 Stade Malien (2-2)

Rivers United 1-0 Enyimba (1-1 – Enyimba won 5-4 on penalties)

Orlando Pirates 1-0 Jwaneng Galaxy (4-0)

ASC Diaraf 1-0 FC Platinum (2-0)

Pyramids FC 2-0 RC Abidjan (4-0)

ES Setif 0-0 Asante Kotoko (2-1)

Salitas 3-1 AS Bouenguidi (3-2)

TAS Casablanca 2-1 Nkana (2-3)