East Africa’s envoys Simba have qualified for the final stage of the CAF Confederation Cup, showdown their 1-0 aggregate win over Stellenbosch at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban, South Africa this evening.
Tanzania’s Simba SC are through to the final of the CAF Confederation Cup after holding South African club Stellenbosch FC to a 0-0 second leg result on Sunday in Durban to advance by a 1-0 aggregate victory.
Simba who went to Durban with a slim 1-0 first leg victory in Zanzibar, had plenty of work to do away from home and they managed to hold the hosts in all 90 minutes of a tense game.
In an uneventful first half, Simba appeared set for a penalty kick after Denis Kibu went down but the Video Assistant Referee review determined the forward tripped himself up and cancelled the initial penalty kick call.
Early in the second half, it was Stellenbosch’s turn to be denied by VAR when a cross went off the arm of Simba defender Chamou Karaboue.
However, after awarding a penalty the referee once again was summoned by VAR to see that Karaboue had his arm close to his body and overturned his decision.
Stellenbosch finally began to show more ambition in the final thirty minutes, and a good team movement close to the 80th minute ended with Andre de Jong setting up Genino Palace for an apparent goal. Once again the VAR intervened to rule out the goal because de Jong was offsides.
Stellenbosch launched plenty of crosses into the Simba penalty area but lacked the creativity to overcome a strong defensive performance from the East African envoys.
Simba now await the winner of the second semifinal and will host the second leg. They are likely to face Morocco’s RS Berkane, who hold a 4-0 advantage going into their second leg clash at Algerian club CS Constantine.
