Stephane Aziz Ki and Bernard Morrison provided the goals on Wednesday in Dar es Salaam as Tanzanian champions Young Africans secured a 2-0 first leg victory over South Africa’s Marumo Gallants in their CAF Confederation Cup semifinal clash. Former ASEC Mimosas forward Aziz Ki opened the scoring in the second half with a calm finish and Morrison scrambled in an important second goal late on against a Gallants side who were quite dangerous and a bit unlucky. The two teams will meet again next Wednesday when Gallants host Yanga at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenberg.
Gallants defended well in a rather uneventful first half as hosts Yanga struggled to find ways to energize the large crowd at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium. Yanga leading scorer Fiston Mayele had the first clear look on goal in the 21st minute but the Congolese’s shot failed to trouble Gallants goalkeeper Washington Arubi. In the 34th minute Gallants forward Letsile Koapeng was sent in and finished into the net but was called offsides.
The visitors came out strong after halftime but poor finishing kept Gallants from finding a valuable away goal. Lucky Mohomi intercepted a slack pass from the Yanga defense and fed Katlego Otladisa but the winger could only fire into the side netting of Yanga keeper Djigui Diarra’s goal. Gallants striker Ranga Chivaviro had two great looks before the hour mark but a save from Diarra and last ditch defending from Ibrahim Hamad kept the match scoreless.
Soon the visitors paid for their wastefulness and it was Aziz Ki who arrived in the penalty area to place his shot into the corner of Arubi’s goal after Tuisila Kisinda created space and crossed low for the Burkinabé forward. Young Africans were in control of the match after Aziz Ki’s opener and late on the hosts got out on the break for Mayele to lay a pass over to substitute Morrison. The Ghanaian attacker was knocked down when his attempt at a chip was tipped by Arubi but got up to finish from a tight angle and send the home supporters into delight.
Highlights from the first leg are below.
Match Highlights
Bernard Morrison goal
