Yanga players promise to fight hard against Gallants
Yanga defender Ibrahim Mohammed (left) vies for a ball against Marumo Gallants player during their first leg of TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup semi-final duel at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium last Wednesday. Yanga won 2-0 PHOTO | COURTESY
What you need to know:
- Yanga and Marumo Gallants will meet at the Venue Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Phokeng from 7pm Tanzania time and Yanga need only draw or 1-0 loss to reach the tournament final for the first time in history.
Dar es Salaam. Young Africans (Yanga) players have said nothing would stop them to eliminate Marumo Gallants in the CAF Confederation Cup semifinal on Wednesday.
The two teams will meet at the Venue Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Phokeng from 7pm Tanzania time and Yanga need only draw or 1-0 loss to reach the tournament final for the first time in history.
Yanga’s defender Ibrahim Mohammed alias Bacca said that they are determined to do well in the match and call Tanzanians to give them moral support.
He said that they are expecting to face strong opposition in the return leg, but what they will play with determinations to defend their 2-0 victory recorded in the first leg.
“We almost half way in CAf Confederation Cup finals, but we need to work hard in the return leg in order to reach the Cup finals. I can say that nothing will stop us to reach the finals,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa forced a 0-0 CAF Champions League semi-final draw at title-holders Wydad Casablanca of Morocco on Saturday despite ending the first leg with nine men.
The visiting club were reduced to 10 men on 43 minutes following a pitch-side VAR review by the Ghanaian referee of an incident in which Neo Maema stamped on a fallen opponent.
Chilean Marco Allende, who came off the bench with 12 minutes left, was shown a red card for a studs-up tackle after another VAR check having initially receiving a yellow one.
VAR played a pivotal role in a cagey clash with a Peter Shalulile goal for Sundowns on 10 minutes awarded by the match officials, then disallowed after a review.
The outcome was not surprising given the closeness of previous matches between the clubs in Casablanca with Wydad winning four by one-goal margins while another was drawn.
Sundowns host the return match in Pretoria next Saturday and will be slight favourites to reach a third final. They finished runners-up in 2001 and triumphed 15 years later.
The first half was dominated by the rival defences with each team managing only one shot on target from five attempts.Sundowns showed no nerves despite having to contend not only with vastly experienced opponents, but also an intimidating 45,000-plus crowd in the Stade Mohammed V.
