ZESCO United may have been Zambia’s sure bet to progress to the first round of the Champions League but the electricity men have been eliminated.
While ZANACO have sailed to the first round with a comfortable 3 – 0 aggregate win over Akonangui of Equatorial Guinea, it is back to the drawing board for their Ndola counterparts.
On Saturday ZESCO beat eSwatini side Royal Leopards 2 – 1 at Levy Mwanawasa Stadium but the away goal rule has ruled out Mumamba Numba’s men.
Coming into the match at the back of a 1 – 0 loss against Leopards in eSwatini, ZESCO needed to avoid conceding to their visitors or at least out score them.
Tafadzwa Rusike opened the scoring for ZESCO in the 30th minute but the visitors responded five minutes later with an equalizer.
In the 48th minute, veteran striker Winston Kelongo headed in ZESCO’s second but it was not enough as the match ended 2 – ll on aggregate with Leopards progressing on away goal rule.
In Lusaka, ZANACO has no such problems as they beat their opponent 1 – 0 with a Abraham Siankombo goal in the 68th minute.
In the Confederation Cup, Red Arrows played to a scoreless draw against Young Buffaloes but it was enough to see them progress after their 2 – 1 win in the first leg.