Saturday afternoon at the Athlone Stadium in Cape Town, South Africa, Cape Town City defeated AS Otôho (Congo) 2-0 to open their CAF (Confederation of African Football) Champions League campaign.
The match was the opening leg of the preliminary first round. Next week, City will play the second leg at the Stade Alain Massamba-Debat in Brazzaville, Congo.
Without head coach Eric Tinkler on the bench, City began positively at Athlone Stadium, where they played for the second time in five days. On Tuesday, City’s performance against Sekhukhune United resulted in a goalless tie.
Assistant coach Diogo Peral assumed command while Tinkler watched from the stands.
Craig Martin, Marc van Heerden, and Thabo Nodada were inserted into the starting lineup for the club’s debut in the CAF Champions League on Saturday.
Darwin González, a Venezuelan forward for City, issued an early warning with a curling shot from a distance, but his attempt sailed over the crossbar. Next up was his strike partner Khanyisa Mayo, who scored, but the goal was disallowed due to offside.
Even though City dominated the first half, they were unable to open the scoring. Taahir Goedeman scored in the second half after City’s captain and defender Thamsanqa Mkhize made many penetrating runs down the left wing. Mkhize’s efforts paid off in the second half.
Six minutes into the half, Goedeman broke through the opposition’s defense and scored. He scored his first goal for the club by converting a Mkhize cross at the goal mouth.
Former Orlando Pirates defender Marc van Heerden scored his debut goal with a header eight minutes later to increase City’s lead.
Goedeman was replaced with Mduduzi Mdantsane in an effort to strengthen the team’s defense. Mpho Makola and Wayde Lekay were substituted for Craig Martin and Mayo, respectively.
@Herman Gibbs