CAF Champions League: Oilers Suffer 2-0 Defeat in Morocco

Liberia league champions LPRC Oilers on Sunday suffered a 2-0 defeat against Moroccan top side Raja Athletic Club in the first-leg of the CAF Champions League second preliminary round at the Marrakech stadium in Morocco.

Raja scored two first half goals through Houssine Rahimi and Mahmoud Benhalib.

The Moroccans enjoyed a total dominance of the match and broke the deadlock 23 minutes down the clock when Rahimi’s right-foot shot from inside the area was deflected into the back of the net.

At the stroke of halftime, the away side finally made it 2-0 when Benhalib easily executed a right-footed placement in the bottom left corner of the goalpost, giving goalkeeper Eshaka Jalloh no chance. 

Coach Cooper Sannah and his boys struggled throughout the match and couldn’t get a single shot on target.

Oilers were without their leading goal scorer Terry Sackor, who parted ways with the club to join Togolese top tier club ASKO De Kara.

Striker Sackor played a key role in helping Oilers winning the Liberian league for two consecutive seasons and continued his form in the first preliminary round of the CAF Champions League by scoring in both legs when Oilers eliminated AKSO 4-2 on aggregate in September.   

Oilers will now need something special to overturn the 2-0 in the second-leg slated for Saturday, October 23 at the Stade Mohammed V in Casablanca.

The Liberian champions had to play their first-leg in Morocco after choosing the North African nation due to the ban imposed on the SKD and the ATS for the second preliminary round of the CAF Champions League.

The club had Ghana as an option, but chose Morocco after reviewing the cost analysis.