The CAF Confederation Cup continued on Saturday with nine first leg fixtures from the Second Round of the qualifying stages with a couple teams building large leads to defend when the second legs take place in a week. Mali’s Real Bamako made a statement in the Malian capital with a 3-0 destruction of Ghana’s Hearts of Oak, who were led by an interim coach following Samuel Boadu’s departure. Al Akhdar of Libya also have a three-goal lead to defend in Tanzania after taking down Azam FC 3-0 with all three goals in the final minutes of the first half.

Egypt’s Pyramids FC found goals from Fakhreddine Ben Youssef and Mostafa Fathi to defeat Sudanese side Hilal Alsahil 2-0, who had to play their home leg in Cairo. FC Saint-Éloi Lupopo scored two excellent goals to defeat Angola’s Sagrada Esperança in Kinshasa and fellow Congolese side DC Motema Pembe also won, edging Seychellois club Saint Michel United 1-0 in Mauritius.

Tunisia’s Club Africain escaped from Zanzibar City with a 0-0 draw and will be in good shape to finish the job in Tunis against Kipanga FC while AS Kigali of Rwanda failed to take advantage of playing at home in a scoreless draw against Libya’s Al Nasr. Ivorian club Sporting Gagnoa edged JS Saoura 1-0 with the Algerian side looking vulnerable to an upset considering their attacking struggles in domestic play this season.

Scores from all nine of Saturday’s matches are below followed by highlights from three matches.

St. Michel United (Seychelles) 0-1 DC Motema Pembe (DR Congo)

AS Kigali (Rwanda) 0-0 Al Nasr (Libya)

Ferroviário Beira (Mozambique) 2-1 Diables Noirs (Congo)

Kipanga FC (Zanzibar) 0-0 Club Africain (Tunisia)

Sporting Gagnoa (Ivory Coast) 1-0 JS Saoura (Algeria)

Saint-Éloi Lupopo (DR Congo) 2-0 Sagrada Esperança (Angola)

Hilal Alsahil (Sudan) 0-2 Pyramids FC (Egypt)

Real Bamako (Mali) 3-0 Hearts of Oak (Ghana)

Al Akhdar (Libya) 3-0 Azam FC (Tanzania)

Saint-Éloi Lupopo 2-0 Sagrada Esperança

Al Akhdar 3-0 Azam FC

Ferroviário Beira 2-1 Diables Noirs