TP Mazembe of the Democratic Republic of Congo beat Algerian outfit USM Alger in the second leg of the African Champions League to be crowned champions of Africa for the fifth time in the club’s history. TP Mazembe won by two goals to nil in the return fixture.
Goals from Mbwana Samatta and Roger Assale gave Mazembe the two-goal victory in Lubumbashi and meant that TP Mazembe had won by four goals to one over the two legs.
Samatta gave Mazembe the lead from the spot kick after the 75th minute in the second half which broke the deadlock. That goal from Samatta was his seventh of the Champions League season. He is joint top scorer with Bakry ‘Al Medina’ Babiker who plays for Al Merrikah in Sudan.
In stoppage time Assale finished the game off with his goal to confirm victory for Patrice Certon’s men.
The last time Mazembe won the Champions League was back in 2010 when they thrashed Esperance by six goals to one on aggregate. They also won the premier African club football competition the previous year, and are the only sub-Saharan side to achieve the feat since 2004.
The last ten years has seen eight North African teams claim the title, clearly showing the dominance of the North Africans in the competition. Egyptian and Tunisian teams have dominated the competition in recent years.
But the first-leg deficit, and Mazembe’s home advantage, meant it was an uphill struggle for USM Alger to stage a comeback.
Mazembe will be Africa’s representative in Japan when the champions of all the continents meet to battle it out for the FIFA Club World Cup in December.
