BAMAKO — Rainford Kalaba and Tresor Mputu gave TP Mazembe a vital first leg advantage when they each scored to give their side a 2-1 away win in their Caf Confederations Cup semi-final football tie with Stade Malien in Bamako, Mali, on Sunday evening.
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Morikaman Koita scored the only goal for the home side. The home side fell behind early on in an encounter that was proving to be an open affair.
Mazembe took an early lead in the 14th minute through Zambia international Kalaba.
The Bamako crowd was shell shocked nine minutes later when the African powerhouse side doubled their lead in the 23rd minute with Congolese international Mputu giving Mazembe a 2-0 lead.
But Malien were adamant not to sit back. They pulled a goal back to the excitement of the local fans in the stadium through Koita just four minutes after going behind.
This match was billed up as a clash between two of the continent’s best keepers in the mould of Soumaila Diakite of Malien and the Malian national team the Eagles, and Robert Kidiaba of Mazembe and the Democratic Republic of Congo, but both keepers were proving to be unreliable.
Key for Mazembe was getting a good away result, as they are virtually unbeatable in their Lubumbashi stronghold and will fancy getting a win at home.
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These two teams are no strangers to each other as they met in the 2010 Caf Super Cup, the year after Stade Malien had lifted the Confederation Cup trophy, with Mazembe running out 2-0 winners on that occasion.
The winner of this tie will face a Tunisian side in the two legged final. Tunisian sides CA Bizertin and SC Sfaxien played to a goalles draw in their Caf Confederations Cup first leg semifinal at the Stade du Octobre 15 on Sunday afternoon in Bizerte.
The return leg of the match will be in 14 days time. The winner of this tie will face either TP Mazembe of the Democratic Republic of Congo or Stade Malien Bamako of Mali in a two legged final.
Bizertin came into this match having lost four of their last five matches, including their last two in Tunisia’s Ligue 1. Their only success in their last five came in the Confederation Cup group phase when they beat Moroccan side FUS Rabat.
Contrast that with the excellent form of Sfaxien, who breezed through the pool phase and the visitors will be favourites now to secure a place in the final.
Both goalkeepers Farouk Ben Mustapha and Rami Jeridi were the real heroes of this match on Sunday as they made wonderful saves to deny the forwards.
Both teams would have been entitled to win this game because both had dominated at some point of the game.
This goalless result keeps intact the chances for both teams in the second leg to be held at El Menzah stadium.
A scored draw in the second leg will see Bizertin advancing on away goals. Bizertin have not beaten Sfaxien since 2007, with the 12 matches in the process resulting in eight victories for Sfaxien.
