Photo Credit: CAF Women's Football/Facebook
Host club AS FAR of Morocco faced a difficult challenge on Tuesday in their Group A clash with DR Congo's TP Mazembe but emerged on top with a comeback 3-1 victory in El Jadida. Sanaâ Mssoudy scored twice after Doha El Madani cancelled out the opening first half goal from Mazembe's Elena Oyana. The Moroccan champions maintain their perfect record to move to the top of Group A ahead of their final group stage clash with UWC Ladies of South Africa. Mazembe will clinch a spot in the semifinals with a victory over Aigles de la Médina of Senegal.
The first half surprised many onlookers as Mazembe proceeded to dominate against the highly favored host side which resulted in an opening goal from the Congolese club in the 11th minute. Mazembe star Merveille Nanguji played a perfectly executed combination with Lacho Marta and a desperate slide tackle from the AS FAR defense saw the ball ricochet to Oyana for an easy finish, a goal that was initially ruled offsides but confirmed by VAR.
AS FAR continued to struggled and the deficit should have increased but a failure to finish plagued Mazembe for the remainder of the first half, something the Ravens would regret after having a second goal disallowed by VAR before halftime. The second half was a completely different story as the hosts came out with an inspired effort and leveled in the 50th minute through a powerful header by El Madani from a stellar cross by Safa Banouk, El Madani's tournament-leading third goal of the competition.
It only got worse for Mazembe who found themselves behind through a set piece two minutes later when Mssoudy received a pass from El Madani and lifted a brilliant shot over the head of Mazembe goalkeeper Fideline Mudimbi. Mssoudy added another six minutes later with a clever touch from Zineb Erroudany's free kick service and the stunning comeback was complete. Mazembe made a late push but any hopes of a comeback were dashed when a late penalty kick was brilliantly saved by AS FAR goalkeeper Khadija Er-Rmichi to confirm maximum points for the host club.
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