Tunisia’s Stade Gabesien and Esperance de Tunis both exited the CAF Confederation Cup on Tuesday, going down on away goals to TP Mazembe and MO Bejaia respectively to miss out on the group stage of the competition.

The first match of the day saw Stade Gabesien claim a 2-1 home win over TP Mazembe at the Olympic Stadium in Gabes, but the tie ended 2-2 on aggregate and the DR Congo giants advanced on away goals.

Gabesien claimed the lead on the day and levelled the tie at 1-1 on aggregate when Youssef Fouzai opened the scoring in the 38th minute. However, the Ravens scored the crucial away goal through Jonathan Bolingi (his second of the tie) on 69 minutes.

The Mazembe striker later got himself sent off, and Gabesien claimed a second goal through Ahmed Hosni to move to the verge of overall victory, but the away side was able to hold firm in defence and secure progression to the final eight.

Esperance began their clash at the Olympic Stadium in Rades as favourites to advance beyond Algeria’s MO Bejaia, and they looked to be on course to do just that when Ghailane Chaalali put them ahead in the 30th minute.

However, Bejaia struck back just three minutes through Mohamed Ndoye to make it 1-1, both on the day and in the tie overall. The ‘Blood and Gold’ were unable to find a way to claim outright victory, leaving the Algerians to advance on away goals.

Collins Okinyo

Ex- CAF Media Expert. An expert on African football with over 15 years experience ,always with an ear to the ground with indepth knowledge of the game. I have worked for top publications including 7 years at www.supersport.com until i founded www.soka25east.com to quench the thirst of football lovers across the continent. I have trained young upcoming journalists who are now a voice in African football.I have covered World Cup,AFCON,CHAN,Champions League,Confederations Cup,Cecafa,Cosafa,Wafu and many other football tournaments across the World. Founder Football Africa Arena(FAA),Founder www.afrisportdigital.com