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Sunday, December 10, 2023

Botola Pro: ASFAR on the brink of CAF qualification, relegation race remains tight

The relegation battle continues to intensify in Morocco’s Botola Pro with three matches from Tuesday involving teams in the thick of the fight as well as the two teams involved in chasing the country’s CAF Confederation Cup spot. In the chase for third place and the CAFCC spot, Royal Army club ASFAR have it all but secured following a 3-2 win over Youssoufia Berrechid. Mohamed El Khaloui opened the scoring in the 2nd minute and Hamza Moujahid added two more in the second half to edge out the league’s last placed side. Youssoufia Berrechid are still only a point from safety but only three matches remain.

RS Berkane now look unlikely to catch ASFAR despite a 1-0 win over Hassania Agadir. Zakaria Hadraf scored for his second straight match with an excellent long range effort but RSB are now eight points behind ASFAR, meaning one more win in their final three games will secure the valuable third place slot while RSB need to win all their remaining games.

It is now seven games unbeaten for Renaissance Zemamra, who have turned their form on at the perfect time to lead a revival of their hopes of remaining in the top division with a 1-0 win over FUS Rabat. Now they are one point out of the relegation zone thanks to a goal from Yassine Labhiri, who lashed home inside the penalty area from a low cross to pick an excellent time to score his first goal of the season. Rapide Oued Zem did their part but are still in the bottom two spots after a 2-1 win over Olympique Safi.

Highlights from all four matches are below. Only five points separate last placed Youssoufia Berrechid from 8th placed Moghreb Tétouan at this point with plenty still to develop in the last matches of the season.

ASFAR 3-2 Youssoufia Berrechid

RS Berkane 1-0 Hassania Agadir

Renaissance Zemamra 1-0 FUS Rabat

Rapide Oued Zem 2-1 Olympique Safi