Sinan RAJUB SENOGA
The quarter finals of this season’s CAF Champions League kicked off with narrow wins for Simba SC and Esperance de Tunis.
Mamelodi Sundowns and record champions Al Ahly also grabbed respective victories.
Simba beat defending champions Wydad Casablanca 1-0 in Dar es Salaam courtesy of Congolese striker Jean Baleke Othos.
Baleke tapped home the all important goal from a Denis Kibu shot in the 30th minute of the game.
Tunisia’s Esperance de Tunis beat Algeria’s JS Kabylie 1-0 in Algiers courtesy of Mohamed Ali Ben Hammouda’s goal in the 54th minute.
Sundowns thumped Algerian champions CR Belouizdad 4-1 in Algeria thanks to a brace from Peter Shalulile and goals from Neo Maema and Cassius Mailula.
Shalulile now joint leads the top scorers table with five goals alongside Raja Casablanca’s Hamza Khabba.
Al Ahly beat Raja Casablanca 2-0 in Cairo thanks to goals from defender Mohamed Abdelmonem and second half substitute Hamdi Fathi.
The teams will face off in in the second leg encounters slated for Friday and Saturday next week.
Simba will visit Wydad Casablanca on Friday while the other three games will be played on Saturday in Morocco, Tunisia and South Africa respectively.
Quarter Final 1st leg results
• JS Kabylie (Algeria) 0-1 Esperance de Tunis (Tunisia)
• Simba SC (Tanzania) 1-0 Wydad Casablanca (Morocco)
• Al Ahly (Egypt) 2-0 Raja Casablanca (Morocco)
• CR Belouizdad (Algeria) 1-4 Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa)
