Zambian club Nkana F.C. saw their remarkable unbeaten home record come to an end after they lost to Moroccan club Raja Casablanca in a CAF Confederation Cup group match.
The hosts lost 2-0 on Wednesday in their Group D match at the Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in Ndola with Soufiane Rahimi converting a penalty two minutes into the second half and Noah Sadaoui adding a goal late in the game.
Nkana had come into the match on the back of two consecutive losses at home in the league but had hoped history would be on their side as they sought to defend their outstanding record in continental competition.
Their run stretched all the way from 1983 and had seen them win 45 matches and draw 19, in addition to scoring 137 goals and conceding 38. They had kept a total of 33 clean sheets in that time.
It was, however, not to be as the 2018 champions ran out winners to go top of the group with a maximum six points from two games level with Pyramids F.C. who earlier in the day defeated Namungo F.C. 2-0 in Dar es Salaam.
A penalty from Ramadan Sobhi and Omar Gaber earned last season’s finalists a second win of the campaign and a fifth consecutive away victory in the competition.
Defending champions RS Berkane suffered a shock 2-0 defeat away to Cameroon’s Cotonsport in Group B. Second half goals from Souaibou Marou and Sibiri Sanou condemned the Moroccans to their first defeat in the competition in seven matches.
The other group match saw JS Kabylie of Algeria come from two goals down to snatch a 2-2 draw against NAPSA Stars of Zambia. An own goal by Amos Simwanza and a 90th minute equalizer from Massinissa Nezla canceled out strikes by Jimmy Mukeya and Doisy Soko.
The Algerians top the group on four points followed by Cotonsport and RS Berkane on three points and NAPSA Stars with one point.
In Group C, Burkinabe side Salitas F.C. stunned two-time winners Étoile Sportive du Sahel 1-0 in Ouagadougou to register their first-ever group stage win in the competition with Oliver Boissy netting the only goal.
Elsewhere, Mamadou Sylla’s injury-time equalizer saw Senegal’s Jaraaf hold CS Sfaxien to a 1-1 draw with Kingsley Sokari having given the three-time winners the lead 20 minutes from the end of normal time.
CS Sfaxien leads the group with four points, with both Étoile Sportive du Sahel and Salitas a further point back and Jaraaf bottom with a solitary point.
In Group A, Tshegofatso missed a penalty and then scored the winner as 2015 finalists Orlando Pirates edged Enyimba 2-1 at the Orland Stadium in Johannesburg. Deon Hotto’s opener for the hosts was cancelled out by a penalty from Austin Oladapo in first half added time.
Pirates remain unbeaten in the group and lead the way with four points followed by Enyimba with three points. The other teams in the group, ES Sétif of Algeria and Al Ahly Benghazi of Libya, were due to play later on Wednesday.
The top two teams from the group will advance to the knockout stage of the competition.
