Azam spank African Lyon to progress

Dar es Salaam. Azam FC sailed through to the last 16 of the Federation Cup yesterday after drubbing African Lyon 4-0 at Karume Memorial Stadium. The Chamazi moneybags scored their goals through Mudathir Yahya, Farid Mussa who bagged a brace and Ame Ali.

The Stewart Hall-coached outfit now joins the likes of Young Africans, Simba and Toto Africans who also romped into the last 16 having registered big-margin victories. The match kicked off on a high tempo with Azam looking favourites to progress right from the first whistle. They took the lead in the second minute through Yahya.

A minute later, Mussa doubled the lead much to the dismay of Lyon’s fans. The Zanzibari took the score beyond reach in the 37th minute with a cool finish.

After the restart, African Lyon looked organised and threatened severally to reduce the deficit, but were less precise in the area.

Azam regained their fluency after a few Lyon’s attacks and made it 4-0 via Ali in the 55th minute. At Ushirika Stadium, hosts Panone FC, who feature in the First Division League, thrashed Madini FC to book a place in the next round.

Kagera Sugar also qualified after beating Rhino Rangers 4-2 on post-match penalties. The two sides played out a one-all draw in regulation time.

The champions of the Federation Cup will represent the Mainland in the next edition of the CAF Confederation Cup whose 2015 winners were Orlando Pirates of South Africa.

Line-ups

Azam FC: Aishi Manula, Shomary Kapombe, Farid Mussa, Abdallah Kheri, Erasto Nyoni, Jean Baptiste Mugiraneza, Kipre Balou, Salum Abubakar, John Bocco, Ame Ally and Mudathir Yahya.

Lyon; Hamad Juma, Mandela Mgunda, Omary Salum, William Otong, Hamadi Manzi, Baraka Jaffar, Hamisi Issa, Awadh Salum, Tito Okello, Raizam Hafidh, John Simbeya.