Benhalib nearer Caf Cup record after winner for Raja
Mahmoud Benhalib moved closer to a Caf Confederation Cup record by scoring the winner for Raja Casablanca of Morocco on Sunday in a 2-1 quarter-final first leg victory over CARA in Congo Brazzaville.
Zakaria Hadraf (l), Rahimi Sofiane (c) and Mahmoud Benhalib (r) of Raja Club Athletic celebrate a goal scored by Benhalib.
It took his season goal tally in the African equivalent of the UEFA Europa League to 11 goals — four less than record-holder Algerian Abdelmalek Ziaya.
Raja could play another five fixtures in the Confederation Cup as the 26-year-old striker seeks five goals to overtake the 15 of Ziaya for Entente Setif during the 2009 season.
Benhalib came off the bench on the hour in Brazzaville and scored the winner with 10 minutes remaining to inflict a first home loss on CARA in the competition this season.
Soufiane Rahimi put three-time African champions Raja ahead on 47 minutes and Cabwey Kivutuka equalised after 71 minutes.
CARA had been strong at home and weak away en route to the last-eight phase, winning their previous six matches in Congo and losing all six away games.
But Raja proved too classy for the Brazzaville outfit and are overwhelming favourites to reach the semi-finals, where they will probably face Enyimba of Nigeria.
Jean-Marc Makusu, the closest challenger to Benhalib for the Confederation Cup Golden Boot, raised his campaign total to nine with a brace.
His goals helped V Club of the Democratic Republic of Congo recover from conceding the first goal of the match to defeat Renaissance Berkane of Morocco 3-1 in Kinshasa.
Goal-scoring full-back Mohammed Aziz got his third of the CAF campaign for Berkane on 24 minutes before Makusu made his presence felt.
He equalised just before half-time, scored again 12 minutes into the second half and Djuma Shabani claimed the third Congolese goal with 78 minutes gone.
Enyimba goalkeeper Theophilus Afelokhai continued his superb Confederation Cup form to thwart Rayon Sports of Rwanda in a 0-0 Kigali stalemate.
It was a predictable result as both clubs have found scoring difficult in Africa this season, averaging marginally more than one goal per game.
Ibrahim Mustapha was a constant threat for two-time African champions Enyimba, who will be expected to win the return match in Aba next Sunday.
Al Masry of Egypt stretched an unbeaten CAF run to 11 matches by edging USM Alger of Algeria 1-0 in Port Said thanks to a 54th-minute goal from Mahmoud Wadi, his first this season.
The club coached by Egyptian legend Hossam Hassan have suffered only one loss in 13 matches — away to Green Buffaloes of Zambia in a preliminary round qualifier last February.
