Setif get past Vita Club to win African Champions League

Entente Setif

Entente Setif, of Algeria, won the African Champions League title for the first time in 26 years after beating AS Vita Club, of the Democratic Republic of Congo, on away goals following a 3-3 aggregate draw on Saturday.

The second leg of the final at the Mustapha Tchaker Stadium in Blida ended in a 1-1 draw, six days after the teams drew 2-2 in the opening game in Kinshasa.

Setif took the aggregate lead on Saturday four minutes into the second half through Sofiane Younes, who stretched his leg out at the back post to convert a crossfield pass from El Hadi Belameiri which had eluded the Vita defence.

But the Congolese visitors equalised just five minutes later through Lema Mabidi, who hit a thunderous shot from outside the penalty area to revive his club's chances.

Mabidi had also scored his club's two goals in the first leg of the final last weekend.

The equaliser ensured a nervy finish in which Vita were the more enterprising of the two teams as Setif employed time-wasting tactics and the tentative Algerian supporters began baying for the final whistle from the 75th minute onwards.

It was a second successive success over Congolese opposition this year for Setif, who had eliminated highly fancied TP Mazembe in the semi-finals.

The triumph continues a bumper year for Algeria, whose national team reached the second round of the World Cup in Brazil in June.

Vita's only previous success in the competition was in 1973 and they were runners-up in 1981, when it was still known as the African Champions Cup.

Entente Setif will now participate in next month's Club World Cup in neighbouring Morocco.