Young Africans defeated Marumo Gallants 2-0 on Wednesday in Dar es Salaam to take a narrow lead into the second leg of their TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup semifinal game.
Stephan Aziz Ki scored in the 63rd minute, and replacement Bernard Morrison added a second in extra time.
As Morrison put the finishing touches on the game in the first of the extra minutes, Ki scored just a few minutes after Gallants had missed opportunities, giving them the upper hand going into the rematch next week.
Read Also:CAF Confed Cup: Rivers United On Verge Of Exit After Loss To Young Africans
After making a powerful run down the right, Tuisila Kisinda pulled back a cross to the edge of the six-yard box for his teammate to finish, and Ki slammed the ball into the roof of the net.
Before that, Gallants had witnessed a flurry of opportunities go wide of the goal.
They had gotten off to a faster start in the second half. Four minutes in, Katlego Otladisa had space on the left after a defensive blunder, but his shot missed the target.
Dangerman Ranga Chivaviro missed two opportunities that were in his favor. He was put through on goal by a spectacular Lucky Mohomi backheel in the 55th minute, but his shot missed the target.
He had another attempt two minutes later when he was through on goal from the right, but Yanga goalkeeper Djigui Diarra blocked his low shot.
In the 63rd minute, they were penalized for the lost opportunities. Three minutes from time, Fiston Mayele’s lobbed effort would have given the team the victory, but it hit the crossbar instead.
However, he provided the assist for the second goal by assisting Morrison’s goal-bound run after a counterattack. The goalkeeper had stopped Morrison’s initial shot, but the Ghanaian rebounded and managed to squeeze the ball into the goal from a tight angle.
Mayele was a threat, particularly in the opening period when he missed multiple opportunities.
In the first 25 minutes, he attempted three shots on goal, all of which Gallants’ Zimbabwean goalkeeper Washington Arubi stopped.
In the 33rd minute, Gallants believed they had scored a goal, but Chivaviro’s attempt was disallowed for offside.