African Confederation Cup: Holders Raja held by Berkane

African Confederation Cup trophy

African Confederation Cup holders Raja Casablanca grabbed a 0-0 draw at fellow Moroccans Renaissance Berkane to keep alive their slim hopes of advancing, despite remaining bottom of Group A.

After being thrashed at home by Berkane last weekend, recently hired French coach Patrice Carteron was under pressure to get a result.

He relied on 33-year-old striker Mouhcine Iajour to frustrate Berkane whose own attack included Togolese Kodjo Fo-Doh Laba and Burkinabe Alain Traore.

Earlier on Sunday, Congo Brazzaville club AS Otoho Oyo boosted their chances of a top-two finish in Group A by edging Moroccan visitors Hassania Agadir 1-0 in Owando.

Arci Saint Thibault Biassadila scored on 70 minutes for the Congolese to avenge a narrow loss in Agadir last weekend.

In a group that includes three Moroccan clubs, Berkane have eight points from four games, Otoho have five, Hassania Agadir four and Raja three.

Should Raja defeat Hassania at home and Otoho away in their final two group games, they will squeeze into the quarter-finals irrespective of the other results.

The group winners and runners-up will qualify for the quarter-finals of Africa's second tier club competition.

Elsewhere, Egyptian giants Zamalek clawed their way back into contention with a 1-0 victory at Petro Atletico of Angola.

Desperate for three points after a poor start in Group D, Zamalek got their win thanks to Moroccan striker Hamid Ahaddad.

He scored after 27 minutes in Luanda to lift Zamalek from the bottom of the table to second place, one point behind leaders Gor Mahia of Kenya who were denied what appeared a legitimate goal when losing 1-0 away to Algerians NA Hussein Dey.

Ugandan defender Shafik Batambuze soared to nod a corner into the net on 59 minutes and turned to celebrate what the visiting side believed was the equaliser.

The referee disallowed the goal, ruling that Hussein Dey goalkeeper Gaya Merbah had been fouled before the ball entered the net.

Hussein Dey won thanks to a ninth-minute goal from Abderrahmane Yousfi, his first in the second-tier African competition.

Zambian clubs Nkana and Zesco United fared badly in Group C, conceding three goals each in away defeats that left them third and fourth in the standings.

Nkana trailed after only four minutes in Kumasi, eventually falling to a 3-0 defeat to Asante Kotoko of Ghana.

Fatawu Satiu scored the early goal and Emmanuel Gyamfi and Martin Antwi struck midway through the opening half.

Al Hilal took advantage of sloppy goalkeeping by Zesco captain Jacob Banda en route to a 3-1 win in Omdurman.

Mohamed Eldai and Waleed Hamid, with his third goal of the Confederation Cup campaign, gave the Sudanese a two-goal advantage that was halved by Lazarous Kambole before half-time.

But Banda allowed a long-range shot from Hilal captain Abdellatif Saeed bounce in front of him and fly into the corner of the net on 65 minutes.

Hilal have seven points, Kotoko and Nkana six each and Zesco, seeded to win the group, just four with two rounds remaining.

Salitas of Burkina Faso failed to score for the fourth consecutive Group B match when held 0-0 at home by record three-time Confederation Cup winners CS Sfaxien of Tunisia.

Another Tunisian challenger, Etoile Sahel, have seven points, Sfaxien six, Enugu Rangers of Nigeria four and Salitas three after Etoile du Sahel won 2-0 away to Enugu Rangers.

Maher Hannachi put Etoile ahead after 19 minutes with Iheb Msakni converting a 69th-minute penalty to double Etoile's lead.

Hannachi, a 34-year-old veteran of African club football with Sfaxien and Etoile, slammed the ball past Enugu goalkeeper Nana Bonsu from close range to put Etoile ahead.

The Tunisian forward also played a role in the second goal as he was fouled by Isaac Loute with Msakni calmly scoring from the spot.

Enugu rarely threatened to score as they suffered a second successive loss to Etoile having fallen 2-1 in Tunisia last Sunday.

Twice Confederation Cup winners Etoile started their group campaign poorly, losing at home to Sfaxien and drawing away to Salitas without scoring in either match.

But the side, coached by Frenchman Roger Lemerre, have bounced back with the home and away victories over Enugu and are poised to secure a last-eight place.

Now 77 years old, Lemerre is the only coach to win the European (France in 2000) and African (Tunisia in 2004) championships.