Simba rout AS Vita Club to advance to next stage

Dar es Salaam. Tanzania’s representatives in the African Champions League (Simba) have qualified for the quarterfinals of the tournament after yesterday beating AS Vita of DR Congo 4-1 at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium.

Simba, with a total of 13 points so far, have also managed to maintain their unbeaten run in group A. Defending champions Al Ahly are in the second position with eight points following their 2-2 draw against El Merrikh of Sudan yesterday.

Simba’s goals were scored by Luis Miquissone in the 30th minute following a good pass from Bernard Morrison and Clatous Chama in the 45th and 83rd minutes respectively.

Simba’s third goal was netted in by Larry Bwalya in the 66th minute with a powerful shot just outside the danger zone after he was set clear by Chama. AS Vita’s goal was scored by Zemanga Soze following a good pass from attacking midfielder Kikasa Wamba.

The results means AS Vita and El Merrikh have been eliminated from the competition. This is the third time for Simba to qualify for the quarterfinal of the tournament in history. The team made it for the first time in 2003 before doing it again in 2018/2019.

Simba join other teams namely Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa, Wydad Casablanca of Morocco, Al Ahly of Egypt and Esperance of Tunisia in the quarterfinal stage of the competition. As per the Caf fixture, quarterfinal matches have been scheduled to start between May 14 and 15 and return legs on May 21 and 22. The winners will qualify for the semi-final stage, whose first leg has been scheduled to take place between June 18 and 19 and return legs on June 25 and 26.

Simba will play their final group stage encounter on April 9 against Al Ahly in Cairo, Egypt.

In yesterday’s encounter, both teams played well in the first half and attacked each other while missing various clear scoring chances they had created.

Simba made several attacks with Chriss Mugalu and Clatous Chama missing various scoring chances.