Kenyan champions Tusker FC picked up a crucial away goal as they played to a 1-1 draw against Djibouti side Arta Solar 7 in the first leg of the CAF Champions League preliminary round tie in Djibouti City on Saturday.
Former Burkina Faso international and ex AS Monaco forward Alain Traore scored the equalizer for the Djiboutian debutants just two minutes after Tanzanian Joshua Ibrahim had given the visitors the lead.
The home side believed they should have scored more goals from the match and moved to the return leg in Nairobi with at least a win to give them a chance of advancing to the next round.
“We dominated most parts of the game and controlled the tempo and should have had at least one or two more goals,” said Arta Solar Seven captain, former Cameroon international Alex Song.
“But it was a very difficult game against a difficult opponent and at the end of the day I think a point is a fair result. We now regroup and look forward to the second leg away from home.”
In another match, Gambian champions Fortune FC started their TotalEnergies CAF Champions League 2021-22 campaign with an emphatic 3-0 win over Algeria’s ES Setif in Bakau.
“The Petroleum Boys” – as Fortune are nicknamed – scored on each half to claim the important victory on their continental debut. Ebrima Camara gave them a first half lead, before Patrick Sylva and Alieu Barry secured the famous victory.
Elsewhere, Mozambique representative UD Songo started their TotalEnergies CAF Champions League 2021-22 campaign, beating AS Otoho of Congo 1-0 on Saturday in Maputo. The duel will be decided on 19th September when the second leg takes place in Oyo.
Pachoio Lau Há King scored the game’s lone goal after 82 minutes, ten minutes after replacing Malawian John Banda.
AS Otoho started well in the first half, and could have taken the lead twice could have made the difference. After hitting the crossbar, UD Songo goalkeeper Valério Macuácua denied Dami Massoumou’s effort.
In the second half, Songo threw all players in attack, and managed to get the winner through substitute King.
PHOTO/COURTESY
