Enyimba crash out of Confederation Cup

                                                    

Raja Casablanca of Morocco on Wednesday defeated Enyimba FC of Nigeria to reach the CAF Confederation Cup final.

Raja won the match 2-1 at the  60,000-seat Stade Mohammed V in Morocco.

Enyimba fell 1-0 at home to Raja in a semi-final first leg won by an Abdelilah Hafidi goal for a 3-1 aggregate.

In Casablanca, Enyimba centre-back Oladuntoye Isiaka gifted the opening goal of the second leg to Raja in first-half stoppage time and conceded a late own goal.

The Nigerian tamely gave possession to Zakaria Hadraf, wearing a mask to protect a pre-match facial injury, and the Moroccan rounded goalkeeper Theophilus Afelokhai to score.

As an uneventful second half limped to full-time, Isiaka allowed a cross slide off his boot into the net on 88 minutes to give Raja a 2-0 second-leg advantage.

Enyimba pulled one goal back almost immediately as substitute Abdulrahaman Bashir rifled the ball past goalkeeper Anas Zniti.

It was the first goal conceded at home in the Confederation Cup by the Raja shot-stopper for 550 minutes.

Enyimba were left to rue several wasted first-half chances, notably when Chinedu Udeagha fired straight at Zniti from close range.

 Raja will play in the Cup final against V Club of the Democratic Republic of Congo who mauled Al Masry of Egypt, 4-0.

Raja ranks among the most successful clubs in Africa, winning five CAF competitions, including the Champions League three times.

But it is 15 years since they lifted an African trophy, beating Coton Sport of Cameroon 2-0 on aggregate in the last final of the now-defunct CAF Cup.

Boasting a squad littered with Moroccan internationals, they have been favourites to win the Confederation Cup this year since surviving a qualifying round scare from Nouadhibou.