African Champions League: Setif take slender lead over holders Wydad
- Published
Holders Wydad Casablanca will have to overturn a 1-0 first leg deficit against Entente Setif if they are to reach the semi-finals
Entente Setif of Algeria seized a narrow advantage in their African Champions League quarter-final against holders Wydad Casablanca by beating the Moroccans 1-0 in the first leg of their tie.
Senegal-born Isla Daoudi Diomande scored the only goal on 16 minutes in Setif on Friday.
It gave the Algerians a slender lead ahead of the return match next Friday in a showdown between clubs who have each won the competition twice .
Victory for Entente was unexpected as they had the least impressive record of the eight survivors in the premier African club competition.
Setif lost three matches en route to the last-eight stage whereas Wydad were among six clubs beaten only once, with another challenger having suffered two defeats.
There could have been more goals during the second half of a match watched by a capacity 25,000 crowd.
Goalkeepers Abderrahmane Boultif of Setif and Yassine el Kharroubi of Wydad allowed crosses to slip from their grasp without being punished.
Naim Aarab squandered the best chance of a Wydad equaliser when he found himself unmarked only to head over.
Wydad hope to become only the fourth club after Egypt's Al Ahly, Enyimba of Nigeria and TP Mazembe of the Democratic Republic of Congo to successfully defend the title.
Horoya 0-0 Al Ahly
Meanwhile, Ahly boosted their chances of reaching the semi-finals by forcing a 0-0 draw away to Horoya of Guinea in a cagey clash that delivered few scoring opportunities.
The best two fell to Salah Mohsen who failed to score when one-on-one with Mali-born Horoya goalkeeper Germain Berthe and later missed the target after being set up by Moroccan Walid Azaro.
Amadou Wonkoye of Horoya had a genuine penalty appeal waved away and team-mate Daouda Camara wasted a good chance with a miss-hit shot into the side-netting.
The other quarter-finals are set for Saturday with Primeiro de Agosto of Angola hosting TP Mazembe and Esperance at home to Etoile du Sahel in an all-Tunisia affair.