Raja beat Setif to move top of Group B

Raja Club Athletic won 1-0 away to Algeria’s ES Setif to move top of Group B as the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League group phase rolled into match day two on Friday.

At the Stade 5 Juillet in Algiers, Mohamed Zrida scored in the 71st minute as visitors Raja picked up a consecutive 1-0 victory to move top of the group with six points.

In a tight match that didn’t have many of scoring opportunities, it was Raja who made the most of their best chance of the game to seal the win.

Setif had an early chance in the ninth minute of the game when Hocine Laribi slashed a cross from the right, but Abdelhak Debbari’s flick was just wide.

In the second half, it was Raja who saw most of the ball and in the 70th minute had a good chance to score when Kadima Kabangu raced to a lobbed ball behind the defense, but his effort to lift the ball over the advancing keeper went over.

However, a minute later, they scored in exact similar fashion, this time Zrida running on to a ball and perfectly placing it over the advancing keeper.

Setif almost grabbed a late equalizer when Abdelmoumen Djabou’s corner found fellow substitute Zoubir Motrani unmarked at the edge of the six yard box but his header came off the crossbar.