With the African Cup of Nations ended, the focus on African football swung back to the club sides as the Champions League kicked off across the continent. In Aba , two times winners Enyimba of Nigeria dispatched Congolese league champions in an empathic 4-1 victory with braces from Stephen Worgu and Exe Otorugu. The Congolese were able to get a consolation goal through Claude Gandze which may give them a glimmer of hope for the return leg.
Five times winners Zamalek of Egypt also got off to a win in their first leg in Cairo against the Rwandan champions APR. The match saw Zamalek fielding several players back from service after winning the Nations Cup with Egypt’s national team including Amr Zaki, Tarek al-Sayed, Mahmoud Fathallah and Mohammed Moncef. Two the national team players Zaki and al-Sayed each got a goal to see of the determined challenge from APR whose sole goal came from Akiam Jannot.
In Rabat Royal Armed Forces FC decimated Cape Verde champions Sporting Praia 3-0 in Rabat courtesy first half strikes from Abderrazak Lemnasfi, Mehdi El Bassel and Mustapha Allaoui.
The biggest shock of the first leg saw past champions and nineteen times winner of the Ghanaian league Hearts of Oak Accra falling 3-0 to FC 105 Liberville in the away match in Gabon. FC105’s goals came from Lenga Basto, Cedric Mintsa and Juste Freddy Alomo.
Two matches were called off due to the political situations in Kenya and Chad respectively. Al Tahrir of Eritrea go through to the second round at the expense of Tusker FC of Kenya while TP Mazambe Englebert of Congo DR go through at the expense of Renaissance of Chad. AS Kaloum of Guinea are also through after Invincible XI of Liberia withdrew.
The results in full from last weekend’s fixtures are below.
ASC SNIM (Mauritania) 1-5 Entente Setif (Algeria)
Sporting Bissau (Guinea Bissau) 0-2 Olympique Khouribga (Morocco)
Renacimiento (Equatorial Guinea) 1-2 InterClube (Angola)
Royal Armed Forces (Morocco) 3-0 Sporting Praia (Cape Verde)
Tonnerre FC (Benin) 0-0 Africa Sports (Ivory Coast)
APR FC (Rwanda) 1-2 Zamalek (Egypt)
AS Douanes (Senegal) 0-0 CF Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso)
Costa do Sol (Mozambique) 2-0 Ajesaia (Madagascar)
Royal Leopards (Swaziland) 0-1 Dynamos (Zimbabwe)
Sahel SC (Niger) 1-0 Ashanti Gold (Ghana)
Daring Club Motema Pembe (DR Congo) 2-0 Gombe United (Nigeria)
Vital'O (Burundi) 0-1 Coton Sport (Cameroon)
FC105 Libreville (Gabon) 3-0 Hearts of Oak (Ghana)
Stade Malien (Mali) 1-2 Primeiro Agosto (Angola)
ASC Saloum (Senegal) 1-2 Club Africain (Tunisia)
ASKO Kara (Togo) 3-1 Union Douala (Cameroon)
Simba SC (Tanzania) 3-0 Awassa City (Ethiopia)
Enyimba (Nigeria) 4-0 Diables Noirs (Congo)
US Tamponnaise (Reunion) 3-1 St Michel United (Seychelles)
Platinum Stars (South Africa) 3-0 Lesotho Correction Services (Lesotho)
Curepipe Starlight (Mauritius) 2-0 Coin Nord Mitsamiouli (Comoros Islands)
Miembeni SC (Zanzibar) 0-1 Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa)
Uganda Revenue Authority (Uganda) 0-2 ZESCO United (Zambia)
The second leg matches has been fixed for February 29 – March 2.