Saint George are on the verge of becoming the first team from Ethiopia to reach the group stages of an African continental club competition.

The team from Addis Ababa beat visiting Egyptian side ENPPI 2-0 on Sunday in the first leg of their play-off match for the Confederation Cup group stages.

Shimeles Bekele opened the scoring for Saint George after just four minutes and Abebaw Butako added the second 22 minutes later.

Also on Sunday former African champions TP Mazembe had a comfortable 4-0 win over Mozambique's Liga Muculmana in Lubumbashi.

Africa Cup of Nations star Sunday Mba will adjust his sights to the Confederation Cup this weekend as the contest for group places begins.

Mba's Nigerian club side Enugu Rangers host two-time winners CS Sfaxien of Tunisia on Sunday in the highlight of eight first leg play-off fixtures.

The 24-year-old midfielder scored the only goal of the Cup of Nations final to give the Super Eagles victory over against Burkina Faso in Soweto last February.

He also struck the winner in the shock quarter-final triumph over hot pre-tournament favourites Ivory Coast in South Africa.

Moroccan rivals FUS Rabat and FAR Rabat have been drawn together in the Confederation Cup round of 16 play-off matches.

The pair, who share the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, will go head-to-head for a place in the group stage of African football's second-tier club competition.

The two-legged ties are made up of the eight winners from the Confederation Cup second round and the eight losers from the Champions League second round.

First legs will be played over the weekend of 15-17 May with the return matches taking place during the weekend of 31 May-2 June.

Goalkeeper Senzo Meyiwa inspired Orlando Pirates to the group stages of the Orange Caf Champions League despite losing 1-0 to TP Mazembe in Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Pirates go through by virtue of the superior goal aggregate, having beaten Mazembe 3-1 in the first leg played at the Orlando Stadium in Johannesburg.

Meyiwa saved two penalties to help a Pirates team that had skipper Lucky Lekgwathi sent off hold on till the final whistle.

The Buccaneers full-back Patrick Phungwayo was yellow carded in the 30th minute, setting the mood for what was a tense game

SuperSport United have been dumped out of the CAF Confederation Cup after a 3-1 loss to Egyptian side ENPPI at the Lucas Moripe Stadium on Saturday.

South African sides have had a notoriously lackadaisical attitude to CAF competitions in the past, but SuperSport has talked up their determination to do well this year.

Maluleka had SuperSport in front on 10 minutes though with a fantastic strike from just outside the box that flew into the top corner.

But the tie turned on two goals in as many minutes for the visitors just before halftime and Ivorian forward Vincent die Foneye got Ismaily both.

Nigeria’s last hope in the 2013 CAF Champions League, Enugu Rangers, crashed out after they fell 3-1 at Angola’s Recreativo Libolo on Saturday. The first leg in Nigeria ended in a 0-0 draw.

It took a well-taken free kick from 25 yards by Henry Camara on 17 minutes for the hosts to take the lead.

They extended their lead on 33 minutes when some slack defending from Rangers gave Dario too much space to find the back of the net.

The match remained this way till the end of the first stanza and on resumption of the second half, Rangers upped their game and it was no surprise when they reduced the deficit on 57 minutes as Afcon hero Sunday Mba fired in a 25-yard left-footed shot past Landu in goal for the host.

Tunisia's U-17 national team finished third at the 2013 CAF U-17 Championship after beating fellow North Africans, Morocco 11-10 on penalties  in Marrakech on Saturday.

The match had ended 1-1 with The Atlas Cubs equalising in the seond half through Younes Bnou Marzouk after Hazem Hassen Haj had put Tunisia in front just before half.

The following scored penalties for Morocco , Sabbar, Mohamed Saoud, Jaadi,Yassine Jbira, Marzouk, El Bouazzati, Bilal Jellal, Achaoui, El Azzouzi, Belkouch while Younes Boudadi and  Sabbar missed the second of his two kicks.

Tunisia scored penalties through ,Samti,Marouane Sahraoui, Khalil Hnid, Chiheb Jbeli, Yasser Slimi, Haj, Sabri Akrout, Aboud, Ghazi Ayadi, Bahaeddine Sahraoui and Samti for the second time, while Sabri Ben Hessen missed.

Cote d’Ivoire is through to the final of the 10th CAF U-17 Morocco Telecom 2013 Championship after stopping the hosts, Morocco 2-1 in a semi-final match played at Mohamed V stadium in Casablanca on Tuesday.

First half goals from Chris Bedia on 30th minute and a strike from Dogbole Niangbo after 39 minutes put baby Elephants in driving seat after a half they had had the better of possession, scoring chances and play.

It was Morocco however who came closest to opening the scoring about eighteen minutes into the match when a midfielder Sakhi Hamza‘s shot scrapped some paint off the upright with Ivorian goalkeeper Aboubakar Diabagate scrambling.

Record four-time African Footballer of the Year Samuel Eto'o scored for Russian big spenders Anzhi Makhachkala at the weekend on his return from a knee injury.

However, the Cameroonian star could not prevent Dynamo Moscow fighting back to force a 3-3 draw and leave Anzhi third in the table, 10 points behind leaders CSKA Moscow with five rounds left.

Benin midfielder Stephane Sessegnon was on target for the second consecutive week, with his late first-half goal giving lowly Sunderland a 1-0 home victory over Everton.

ENGLAND

Title holders Ahly of Egypt kept Tunisian side Bizertin at bay to settle for a goalless away draw on Sunday in a CAF Champions League third round tie.

Only 1,500 fans were allowed to attend the game at Stade 15 Octobre due to security concerns, but the vociferous fans provided the only zeal in an otherwise dour game.

Ahly, who are seeking to win a record-extending eighth Champions League title, will be favourites to advance to the group stage when they host Bizertin in the second leg in a fortnight.

The game was preceded by riots in Bizerte after the Tunisian outfit were disqualified from the national league, a decision that led to clashes between their fans and police.