Ten-Man Raja Casablanca Becomes CAF Confederation Cup Champions
Ten-man Raja Casablanca of Morocco held their nerves to clinch its second TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup title after beating Algerian side JS Kabilye 2-1 in an entertaining final played in Cotonou, Benin.
Raja Casablanca came into the game having failed to win any of their last three games in all competitions.
Raja took the lead when Soufiane Rahimi ran behind the defense to pick up a looped ball from Arjoune, before rounding the keeper and tapping into an empty net. The assistant referee had initially raised his flag for offside, but upon review, VAR awarded Raja the goal.
Raja were 2-0 up in the 13th minute when Ben Malango swept home a left footed strike.
The Congolese forward calmly controlled a cross from left-back Oussama Soukhane before tucking it into the bottom right corner.
Raja were controlling the tempo and bossing the game and they came close again in the 33rd minute when Abdelilah Hafidi drove into the box from the left, but his eventual shot went just inches over the bar.
In the second half, the game swung into Kabilye’s favour just seconds into the restart. The Canaries halved the deficit when striker Mohamed Zakaria shot low into the net after the Raja defence struggled to clear a cross from the right.
Kabilye’s fight to get back into the game got a massive boost in the 62nd minute when Arjoune was sent off for a high boot, another decision that had to be confirmed by the VAR.
Kabilye piled the pressure on Raja who defended in numbers. They had to remain alert for the rest of the game and should have even had a goal late on but couldn’t hit the target. Off a counter, Rahimi dragged the keeper off his line before cutting back a cross for Fabrice Ngoma, but the substitute chipped the ball wide.
However, Moroccan side Raja Casablanca held on to ensure they clinched the victory and their second Confederation Cup title.
Despite their numerical advantage, JS Kabilye were unable to launch a comeback as Soufiane Rahimi and Ben Malang’s goals were instrumental in claiming the CAF Confederation Cup title for Raja Casablanca.
Thanks to Raja Casablanca’s triumph, the Moroccans will play either Al Ahly or Kaizer Chiefs in the CAF Super Cup.
Chidi Nwoke/CAF.
