of the game to concede twice and diminish their slimmest hopes to take
at least a draw from the game.
Hamza Khabba had given the visitors a first-half lead, but Simba seemed
to have picked themselves up and looked determined for a good result at
home.
However, Soufiane Benjdida scored the second for Raja in the 83rd
minute before Ismail Mokadem’s penalty two minutes later sealed the victory.
With the result, Raja, who last weekend thrashed Uganda’s Vipers 5-0 sat top
of Group C with a maximum of six points while Simba sits at the bottom
of the group with zero points after back-to-back losses.
Khabba gave Raja the lead on the half-hour mark with a beautiful strike
into the roof of the net from the edge of the box after being played through
by Zakaria Habti.
It was a well-deserved lead as they had played better, and they took it to the
halftime break.
In the second half, Simba came back more determined and pushed Raja to
defend deep, looking for that crucial goal to take them back into the tie.
John Bocco came close when he slid in to try to connect to a Clatous Chama
freekick but he was a few seconds late as Anas Zniti collected the ball before
him.
Simba continued their push but was put off with seven minutes left when
Benjdida scored the second for Raja. The substitute who had just spent six
minutes on the pitch controlled the ball inside the box before volleying beyond
Aishi Manula.
Raja sealed the tie two minutes later when Mokadem scored from the spot
after Joash Onyango committed a foul inside the box.
Simba tried to rally late for a goal back with Moses Phiri and Jean Baleke
having shots go just wide.
AS Vita Club 1-2 Petro de Luanda
Elsewhere in Kinshasa, Petro de Luanda picked up a precious 2-1 win
away to AS Vita Club. Tiago Azulao and Anderson Cruz scored in either
half, while Vita’s consolation was scored by Eric Kabwe.
With the result, Petro who started their campaign with a draw against JS
Kabilye move top of the group with four points.
