Congolese side AS Vita Club clinched the final spot in the 2022-23 CAF Champions League group stage in a tightly contested tie on Thursday in Kinshasa, defeating Rail Club du Kadiogo of Burkina Faso 4-3 in a penalty kick shootout. After a 0-0 draw in the first leg played in Benin last weekend, RCK played Vita Club to a scoreless draw in the second leg as well to set up a tense shootout that had massive financial implications. Les Dauphins Noirs will make their sixth appearance in the CAFCL group stage since the current format was established in 1998.
The visitors from Burkina Faso gave Vita Club all they could handle in the second leg with opportunities for both teams throughout the ninety minutes. RCK had a couple of good looks on the Vita Club goal but failed to take advantage and find a crucial away goal. Vita Club hit the upright on at least three occasions, including in the final seconds from a free header following a corner kick.
With penalty kicks needed to discover a winner, both teams had their opening attempts saved in a duel between RCK goalkeeper Babayouré Sawadogo and his counterpart Simon Omossola. However while Vita Club were perfect on their remaining four spot kicks RCK’s Dramane Kambou sent his team’s third attempt off the crossbar and over.
Video of the penalty kick shootout is below.
