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.

It was the African Show as Nancy beat Evian TG 3:1 in the French top-flight on Sunday.

All goals in the tie were scored by African players with Cameroon striker Benjamin Moukandjo Bile striking twice to seal the win for Nancy after compatriot Paul Efoulou had opened scoring.

Tunisia striker Saber Khelifa netted the consolation goal for visitors Evian TG. It was his tenth goal of the season.

Khelifa's international team-mate Wahbi Khazri netted his seventh goal of the campaign for Bastia, but it proved only a consolation as visitors Lille stormed back to win the tie 2:1.

Orlando Pirates have seized the advantage after 3-1 victory over TP Mazembe in their African Champions League clash in Orlando on Saturday night.

The South African side dominated much of the match and could have won by a greater margin.

It was a much improved Pirates performance than in recent weeks, though Coach Roger de Sa admits the night could have gone better for them. 

“I’m disappointed we conceded, the away goal will give them something to work with. For us the three could have been five, but today’s performance was outstanding from everybody,” De Sa said.

SuperSport United goalkeeper Ronwen Williams saved a late penalty as the South African side claimed a 0-0 draw against ENPPI in Egypt in their CAF Confederation Cup second round, first leg on Friday night.

The home side were awarded a spot-kick on the stroke of 90 minutes, but Williams, who has been outstanding this season for Matsatsantsa, stood firm to make the save.

“It’s a great result for us away from home, they are the best team we have played in this competition so far,” SuperSport coach Gavin Hunt said.

Bevan Fransman saw his early effort well saved by the home goalkeeper, while Grant Kekana was forced to clear off the line.

Tunisia and Morocco played a 1-1 draw in final group A match played in Casablanca on Friday night.

The word of mouth must have worked well as huge numbers of fans finally turned up in Casablanca where they were 15 to 18,000 spectators; mostly young people were in the Mohamed V stadium.

Moroccans trooped to the arena after they had heard the praise given to their team after his first two matches which the Atlas Cubs won against Gabon and Botswana, and the fans decided to come and encourage the side and to discover more about the entertaining side.

With both teams already guaranteed semi-final places, it only to decide first and second places and the two coaches, the Moroccan Abdellah El Idrissi and Tunisian Abdellay Ben Sultan chose to use those players who had not seen much action or none at all so far.

There are five former African champions among the 16 hopefuls entering the final qualifying round this weekend for the CAF Confederation Cup.

And FAR Rabat and Wydad Casablanca of Morocco, ASEC Mimosas of Ivory Coast, Etoile Sahel of Tunisia and Ismaily of Egypt are favoured to win two-leg ties and reach play-offs against CAF Champions League last-16 losers.

CS Sfaxien of Tunisia have also experienced continental glory, being the only club to successfully defend the Confederation Cup, the second-tier African club competition loosely modelled on the Europa League.

Also in action will be US Bitam of Gabon, who scored a record 17 goals in a preliminary tie, and Liga Muculmana of Mozambique, whose 7-1 thrashing of Nigerian visitors Lobi Stars in Maputo was totally unexpected.

A number of African stars were on target for the clubs in midweek European club games played on Wednesday.

ENGLAND

Senegal midfielder Mohamed Diame curled home a superb goal in their 2:2 draw with Manchester United in an English Premier League game. The 55th minute strike was West Ham's second of the game and Diame's third of the season.

FRANCE

Mali striker Cheick Diabate was the hero for Bordeaux as his second half brace lifted them to a 3:2 win over second-tier hosts RC Lens. Bordeaux, who had to come from behind, are consequently through to the semi-finals of the Coupe de France where they will tackle fellow Ligue 1 side Lorient.

The Marc-Vivien Foe award, with the name of the former Cameroonian footballer who died in June 2003 at the Confederations Cup and rewarding since 3 years the best African player in Ligue 1 has announced its nominees for the 2013 edition.

Tunisia aligns three players; Aymen Abdennour (Tunisia, Toulouse FC), Wahbi Khazri (Tunisia, Bastia) and Saber Khelifa (Tunisia, Evian Thonon Gaillard). It is the largest contingent of nominees. Togo will count on the goalkeeper Kossi Agassa and the midfielder Romao Alaixys to win the title.

The favorites for the 2013 edition are undoubtedly the Gabonese Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang , author of 17 goals in Ligue 1 and the Cameroonian Nkoulou Nicolas of Marseille. Both players enjoyed a good season and are in the running for a place on the European stage next season.

Crazy game between Tunisia and Gabon on Tuesday for the second day of the group stages of the 10th African Cup of Nations Under 17 years.

If it took until a half-hour of game before seeing this meeting rolled, the rest of the meeting was very pleasant.

At the 31st after a huge scramble in front of goal of Gabon, Ben Larbi luckily deflected away a shot from his teammate Ben Salem in the cages.

Nine minutes later, the Gabonese defense allows Hazem Haj Hassan to put a shot in the goal of Menene.

In the second match of the day in Group A it was almost a similar story with Tunisia establishing dominance just like Morocco in their game against Botswana.

The Tunisians’ technical mastery was tested against the athleticism of the Young Zebras of Botswana. According to Abdelay Ben Soltane, the coach of the Carthage Eaglets “I expected a physical game with their direct play, their fighting spirit, their physical condition”. Soltane was pleased with the way his charges played in particular how they started.

It took the Eaglets mere 30 seconds to be on the score sheet through Mohamed Ben Larbi  and the same player converted a penalty three minutes later to make it 2-0.