Raja Casablanca wins African Confederation Cup final

CRS July 11, 2021

Less than a minute

Raja Casablanca won the African Confederation Cup forthe second time in four years with a 2-1 victory over JS Kabylie of Algeria inSaturday’s final in Benin.

Reducedto 10-men, Raja Casablanca scoredtwo early goals but had to hang on grimly to secure the win.

SoufianeRahimi put Raja ahead after five minutes at the end of a sweeping move and thenCongolese Ben Malango was offered time and space to swivel inside the penaltyarea and strike home from close range for a second goal after 14 minutes.

But JSKabylie pulled one back with the first attack of the second half of the final,as Mohamed Zakaria Boulahia finished smartly at the end of a protractedgoalmouth scramble.

TheAlgerians received a boost when Raja had Omar Arjoune sent off after connectingwith an opponent’s face with a high boot just past the hour mark.

RefereeVictor Gomes of South Africa at first handed him a yellow card but after beingtold to review the decision on the pitchside VAR screen, it was changed to ared.

Raja,which previously won African club football’s secondary competition in 2018,held out to spark boisterous celebrations at the final whistle.