Fadlu Davids' Simba SC suffered a 2-0 defeat to RS Berkane in the first leg of the CAF Confederation Cup final on Saturday night.
CAF Confederation Cup
Result: RS Berkane 2-0 Simba SC
Date: 17 May 2025
Venue: Stade Municipal de Berkane
The hosts got off to the perfect start as Mamadou Camara opened the scoring on eight minutes with a towering header from Hamza El Moussaou's corner.
The lead was doubled in the 14th minute when Oussama Lamlaoui bagged his sixth goal in the competition with a close-range finish after being set up by Imad Riahi.
It took a while for Davids' charges to get going in the first half, as they had to wait for the final five minutes of the half to register some efforts, with Elie Mpanzu going closest just before the break.
Simba responded with a change at the start of the second half, with Davids withdrawing Kibu Denis for Valentin Nouma.
The Moroccans went on to bag a third goal on the hour mark when Youssef Mehri got in on the act by volleying home from close-range, however the goal was ruled out by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) for offside.
The hosts showed no signs of slowing down as they went in search of more goals, with Lamlaoui being denied a second goal on 78 minutes by a fine save from Moussa Camara.
The Tanzanian outfit, meanwhile, struggled to lay a hand on Berkane in the second half and were lucky not to have fallen further behind in the latter stages of the second half.
However, Davids charges will now head back to Tanzania for the second leg trailng by two goals, a deficit which they overcame in the quarter-finals already.
