Tshegofatso Mabasa of Orlando Pirates celebrates a goal during the CAF Champions League 2024/25 match between Al Ahly and Orlando Pirates at Cairo International Stadium in Cairo, Egypt on January 18, 2025 © Weam MostafaBackpagePix
Sunday, January 19, 2025 20:30
Three of the four groups in the CAF Champions League were closely contested, with Young Africans and Raja Casablanca falling one point short of qualifying for the quarter-finals.
Despite suffering a 4-0 defeat to TP Mazembe at the Stade TP Mazembe on Saturday, Al Hilal secured their place at the top of Group A with an exciting result.
Ravens took control at home with three goals within the first hour from Jean Diouf (21′), Ibrahima Keita (29′) and Merceille Ngimbi (58′), before Suleman Shaib (PEN 89′) I won by death.
The young Africans narrowly missed out on a place in the quarter-finals after a 0-0 draw with MC Alger at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium.
The stalemate in Dar es Salaam saw El Muroudia move Yanga into second place, one point behind the Blue Wave.
Group B was also closely contested, with AS FAR seizing top spot after a 1-1 draw with Mamelodi Sundowns at Loftus Versfeld on Sunday.
Bafana Ba Style looked to have moved into pole position when Peter Sharirule broke the deadlock in the 12th minute, but Amin Zoutsou finally hit back with seven minutes remaining to finish one point behind the Brazilians. .
Raja Casablanca fell just short in the final with a 1-0 win over AS Maniema Union at the Larbi Zauri Stadium, but finished one point behind third-placed Sundowns.
Orlando Pirates defeated Al Ahly 2-1 at the Cairo International Stadium on Saturday to win a shock final round and finish top of Group C.
After a scoreless first half, Lelebohire Mofokeng gave the Buccaneers the lead in the 53rd minute, and Hussein El-Shahat struck back for the Red Eagles in the 69th minute. Tshegofatso Mabasa then silenced the home crowd with an 83rd-minute winning goal as Pirates won their group with a four-point lead over the defending champions.
Meanwhile, CR Beloizdad ended their African adventure on a high note with a close 6-0 win over Stade d’Abidjan at the Stade du 5 Jouillet.
First-half goals from Abderrahman Mezzian (17′) and Mohamed Belkir (36′) gave the Reds the lead, with Aymen Mahias (49′), Rezki Hamroune (87′) and Merouan Zerlouki (90′) all scoring. Finished the rout. In the second half.
ES Tunis defeated the Pyramids by the closest margin in Group D after a 4-1 victory over Sagrada Espelanca at the Hamadi Agrebi Stadium on Saturday.
A hat-trick from Acref Djevri (16′, 55′, 59′) propelled Blood and Gold to victory, with Dabanda (45’+1′) managing to score and Jan Sass (22′) also scoring. I carved my name on the sheet. Sacred Hope pulled one back just before halftime.
Pyramid had to settle for second place despite a 6-0 victory over Djoliba at the Stadium on June 30th.
The hosts took the lead in the second minute through Sodiq Aujola, followed by Marawan Hamdi (10′), Mostafa Fatih (53′), Ramadan Sobhi (60′ PEN) and Abdel Rahman Magdy (66′). , Yusef Obama scored an additional goal. (77 minutes) A big victory.
However, after both teams finished with 13 points, it was not enough to beat ES Tunis, who had a better goal difference in the head-to-head competition.
CAF Champions League Round 6 Results:
Saturday, January 18th
TP Mazembe 4-0 Al Hilal
Young Africans 0-0 MC Alger
Al Ahly 1-2 Orlando Pirates
CR Belize Dad 6-0 Stade d’Abidjan
ES Tunis 4-1 Sagrada Esperanca
Pyramid 6-0 Djoliba
Sunday, January 19th
Mamelodi Sundowns currently 1-1
Raja Casablanca 1-0 AS Maniema Union
