Tanzania’s Young Africans and Sudan’s El Merriekh are likely to be the only clubs from the CECAFA region to feature in the group stages of the 2016 CAF Confederations Cup.
This is after both won their first leg matches of the pre-group phase in the continent’s second tier competition.
In Dar es Salaam, Yanga needed two second half goals from Simon Msuva and Mateo Anthony to earn a deserved 2-0 win over Angola’s Sagrada Esperanca.
The Tanzanian champions can still afford a 1-0 loss in the return leg tie but still go through to the last eight.
In Omdurman, Ramadan Agaba scored in the first half to earn Jamal Salim’s El Merriekh a slim 1-0 victory over Kawkab Marrakech. The Ugandan goalie featured for last year’s CAF Champions League semi-finalists.
Elsewhere, Uganda first choice custodian Denis Onyango was missing in action but that didn’t stop his South African side Mamelodi Sundowns from winning 3-1 at home to Medeama despite conceding first.
In other games played, Etoile Du Sahel won 2-0 against Mounana of Gabon, Al Ahly Tripoli drew goalless with Egypt’s Misr El Maqasah and the same result was posted in the Stade Malien and FUS Rabat tie in Bamako.
The second leg matches will be played between 17-18 May, 2016
CAF Confederations Cup Results (First Leg)
Mamelodi Sundowns (SA) 3-1 Medeama (Ghana)
TP Mazembe (DR Congo) 1-0 Stade Gabesien (Tunisia)
Young Africans (Tanzania) 2-0 Sagrada Esperanca (Angola)
El Merriekh (Sudan) 1-0 Kawkab Marrakech (Morocco)
Stade Malien (Mali) 0-0 FUS Rabat (Morocco)
Mouloudia Bejaia (Algeria) 0-0 Esperance (Tunisia)
Al Ahly Tripoli (Libya) 0-0 Misr El Maqasah (Egypt)
Etoile du Sahel (Tunisia) 2-0 Mounana (Gabon)