Gor Mahia Fall At Home To CR Belouizdad

Record Kenyan champions Gor Mahia were knocked out of African Champions League after going down 2-1 to Algeria’s CR Belouizdad on Wednesday at Nyayo National Stadium.

After a balanced affair in the early exchanges, Belouizdad’s first real threat came through Marcellin Koukpo in the sixth minute when his shot just at the edge of the box was deflected for a fruitless corner by the Gor Mahia defence.

The home side opened the lead in the 18th minute after a right-wing cross from Clifton Miheso was tapped in by Burundian import Jules Ulimwengu.

Three minutes later another swift passing movement from Belouizdad saw Chemseddine Nessakh with a clever back-heel to put Zakaria Draou in space 14-yards out, but his powerful shot was superbly saved by the keeper.

Gor had the next chance on goal in the 32^nd minute when a clever ball over the top of the Belouizdad defence by Kenetth Muguna was well-controlled by Ulimwengu, but he fired narrowly wide from 14-yards out.

The Kenyan champions controlled the flow of play for the remainder of the half but failed to add to the scoreline.

The second 45 saw the K’Ogalo continue to dictate matters, but their finishing was not as good as in the first half.

Ten minutes after the restart Betrand Konfour met a left-wing cross from Miheso, but the striker headed over from close range under no pressure from any defenders.

In the 69^th minute, Benson Omalla wasted another glorious chance when substitute Samuel Onyango slipped him through on goal, but he dragged his shot wide with just the keeper to beat.

Four minutes later some swift-build up play from Belouizdad saw Sayoud converting a free-kick outside the box after John Macharia had committed a foul outside the box.

On the 77^th minute, Abdelkader Belharane doubled his side’s lead when he turned home a low right-wing cross from Sayoud to make it 2-1.

Gor Mahia pushed numbers forward in the final ten minutes, but the Belouizdad defence held firm as they picked up yet another win against K’Ogalo.

CR Belouizdad are safely through to the group stage after an 8-1 aggregate win over Gor Mahia who have been relegated to the Confederation Cup play-offs.