 Michael Asante's Asante Kotoko beat Wydad Casablanca 2-0 |
Two-time African champions Asante Kotoko began their Confederation Cup campaign with a 2-0 victory against Morocco's Wydad Casablanca.
Yusif Chibsah gave the Porcupine Warriors the lead in the 40th minute, when Charles Taylor beat the offside trap, rounded the Wydad goalkeeper and teed up Chibsah to knock home.
The Moroccans contested the goal, arguing that Taylor had been in an offside position, but the protests were to no avail.
In the 78th minute, Nana Arhin Duah doubled Kotoko's lead after another assist from Taylor.
Like the seven other losers from the second round of the Champions League, Kotoko were playing their first game in the Confederation Cup.
At the Accra Sports Stadium, Hearts of Oak beat AS Douanes of Senegal 1-0 thanks to an injury time goal from captain Amankwah Mireku.
In Luanda, Petro Atletico of Angola drew 0-0 with FAR of Morocco while Cameroon's Cotonsport beat Green Buffaloes of Zambia 3-0.
Hamadou Soussia opened the scoring after 22 minutes, before Nassourou Moussa grabbed a second-half double, scoring in the 57th and 81st minutes.
In the Cameroon capital, Canon Yaounde were held by South Africa's Santos to a 1-1 draw and in Khartoum, Al Hilal beat Liberty Professionals 1-0.
Khalid Aziz was the hero for Al Hilal with his match-winning goal in injury time.
On Saturday, Rwanda's army side APR beat Enugu Rangers of Nigeria 1-0 in Kigali, after Mark Sirengo scored the only goal in the 68th minute.
 Benedict Vilakazi scored one of Orlando Pirates' four goals |
On Friday, South Africa's Orlando Pirates beat Sable Batie of Cameroon 4-2 in a third-round first-leg tie.
The former African champions took the lead in Orkney, just outside Johannesburg, with a goal in the 13th minute from Jimmy Kauleza.
Benedict Vilakazi doubled the lead eight minutes later for the side who lost out to Malawi's Bakili Bullets in the last round of the Champions League.
The Cameroonians got back into the game three minutes before the break as Herman Dzumafo scored.
On the stroke of half-time, Pirates restored their two goal advantage as Joseph Makhanya found the target.
Lebogang Mokoena then seemed to put the tie beyond the Cameroonians as he made it 4-1 in the 75th minute.
Seven minutes later, Sable Batie's Bernard Ngom scored the final goal of the game as he found the net with what could prove a vital away goal.
The second legs will take place on the weekend of 23-25 July, with the winners claiming a place in the group stages of the new competition and a share of US$500,000.
MMIX
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