RS Berkane claimed their third CAF Confederations Cup title after beating Fadlu Davids’ Simba SC 3-1 on aggregate in the two-legged final.
The second-leg of the 2024/25 CAF Confederations Cup final was played at the Amaan Stadium in Zanzibar on Sunday afternoon. For the former Orlando Pirates coach, this result was devastating, as he aimed to write an important piece in his growing coaching profile.
Moreover, Simba’s dream of a first continental title crumbled like a deck of cards. They last reached the final in 1993, then in the old CAF Cup, only to finish runners-up.
Nevertheless, RS Berkane came into this one sitting on a two-goal advantage over Fadlu Davids’ Simba SC after winning the first-leg.
Goals from Senegalese midfielder Mamadou Camara and Oussama Lamlaoui left the Moroccan heavyweights pretty poised ahead of the second-leg.
The first-leg was played at the Stade Municipal de Berkane in Morocco last week. Simply put, RS Berkane wanted to assert their intentions of a smash-and-grab of the coveted title.
HOW RS BERKANE OUTWITTED FADLU DAVIDS’ SIMBA SC
However, Simba SC showed a lot of intent to overturn the deficit of two goals. And they deservedly surged ahead after 17 minutes as Joshua Mutale slotted the ball home, following a neat interchange of passes that opened up the RS Berkane defence.
Three minutes later, they almost doubled their scores, but Shomari Kapombe missed a sitter. His diving header from Mutale’s cross went over the bar. RS Berkane held on and maintained their goal aggregate lead going into the half-time break.
In addition, they got a numerical advantage when Simba SC’s Yusuph Kagoma was red-carded for a second bookable offence. One of Fadlu Davids’ assistant coaches was also red-carded as he protested against the referee.
Simba SC’s hopes were further dampened as Steven Mukwala’s 73rd-minute effort was disallowed after a lengthy VAR check. Berkane then equalised via Soumalia Sidibe’s goal in the referee’s optional time, a goal that all but sealed their triumph.
As largely predicted after the dominant first-leg show, RS Berkane kept their form as they are enjoying a historical season. They accounted for their first top-flight Moroccan Botola Pro title this season.
Moreover, this was their fourth appearance in the last six Confederation Cup finals. They won the 2019/20 and 2021/22 seasons editions.
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