CAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE RESULTS:
Vipers 1 Raja Casablanca 1
Simba 7 Horoya AC 0
Vipers’ newly-appointed coach Alex Isabirye praised his players after hold Morocco’s Raja Casablanca to a 1-1 draw in the CAF Champions League match played on Saturday, March 18 at the St Mary’s stadium, Kitende.
Despite the draw, Vipers remain bottom of Group C with just two points from five matches and they are out of the competition. However, Isabirye, who replaced Brazilian Beto Bianchi last week, picked positives from the game against Raja.
“Seriously, I am happy not because we scored our first goal at this stage of the competition but the players showed great improvement in their character on the pitch,” Isabirye stated in the post-match interview on Saturday night.
Abubakar Lawal scored the equalizer for Vipers after Soufiane Benjdida put visiting Raja Casablanca in the lead.
Under Bianchi, Vipers who made their debut appearance in the lucrative CAF Champions League group stage this year, lost 0-5 to Raja Casablanca, drew 0-0 with Horoya AC of Guinea Conakry followed by the back-to-back (0-1) defeats to Simba SC of Tanzania.
Isabirye guided Vipers to a 4-3 penalty win over Wakiso Giants in the Uganda Cup game on his debut on March 14. He will see out the disastrous CAF Champions League campaign with the final Group C game against Horoya on March 31 in Conakry.
The major task at hand for him is to defend the StarTimes Uganda Premier League title and add the Uganda Cup trophy this season.
Meanwhile, Simba sealed their place in the CAF Champions League quarterfinals after thrashing Horoya 7-0 on Saturday in Dar es Salaam. The Tanzania league champions join Group C leaders Raja to the last-eight stage.
Unbeaten Raja tops the group with 13 points followed by Simba on 9 points from five games. Horoya have four points in third place and Vipers are bottom with two points.
