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AFRICA: Bolingi goal spares Mazembe blushes
Star-studded TP Mazembe needed 94 minutes to break the resistance of African rookies Stade Gabesien and win a CAF Confederation Cup play-off 1-0 in Lubumbashi Sunday.
Striker Jonathan Bolingi scored after a corner in the southern mining city to give the Democratic Republic of Congo club a narrower-than-expected advantage over their Tunisian opponents.
The match-winner is the 21-year-old son of Mpangi Merikani, the former DR Congo goalkeeper who played for leading Kinshasa side Daring Club Motema Pembe.
Mazembe boast an experienced multi-national squad with Bolingi usually one of the few Congolese starters in a line-up including Ghanaians, Ivorians, Malians, Tanzanians and Zambians.
The ‘Ravens’ won the CAF Champions League a fifth time last year, but their title defence lasted only two rounds before being eliminated by Wydad Casablanca of Morocco.
Defeat meant demotion of the second-tier Confederation Cup with seven other Champions League last-16 losers and if TP defeat Gabesien over two legs they will go into the May 24 group draw.
Competing in a CAF competition for the first time, Stade reached the play-offs through an unbeaten six-match run, but none of their team are Tunisian national team first choices.
