Gor Mahia falter in CAF Champions League opener as Kenya Police debut with draw

Record Kenyan champions Gor Mahia began their 2024-25 CAF Champions League campaign on a disappointing note, losing 1-0 to South Sudanese club El Merreikh Bentiu in a First Round, first-leg match at the Juba Stadium in South Sudan on Sunday.

El Merreikh Bentiu secured the victory with a 64th-minute goal from Mohammed Musa.

K'Ogalo, who remain winless in their first four matches under new coach Leo Neiva, have a chance to redeem themselves next Sunday when they host the South Sudanese side in the return leg at Nyayo National Stadium.

Having performed poorly in the CECAFA Club Championship held in Tanzania last month, where they picked up just one point from three matches, the 21-time Kenyan champions will be desperate to bounce back in the second leg to keep their hopes of progressing in this season's CAF Champions League alive.

Meanwhile, in Nairobi, Kenya Police marked their debut in CAF competition with a 0-0 draw against Ethiopian Coffee in the first leg of their 2024-25 CAF Confederation Cup First Round match at Nyayo National Stadium on Sunday.

The defending FKF Cup champions now face a crucial task next Sunday when they travel to Addis Ababa to play the Ethiopian club, needing a positive result to stay in contention for this season's CAF Confederation Cup.

Kenya Police Bullets 0-0 Yei Joint Stars 

At the Abebe Bikila Stadium in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Kenya Police Bullets were held to a 0-0 draw by Yei Joint Stars FC in their Group A encounter of the CECAFA Zonal 2024-25 CAF Women's Champions League qualifiers.

Elsewhere in the region, across other CAF matches played from Friday through Sunday, Somalia's Dekedaha took a significant step towards the next qualifying round of the 2024-25 CAF Champions League with a 2-0 away win against Djibouti's Arta Solar on Friday.

Also on Friday, in the First Round of the 2024-25 CAF Confederations Cup qualifiers, Somalia's Horseed were held to a 0-0 draw at home by Burundi's Rukinzo.

On Saturday, Ethiopia's Nigd Bank secured a 2-1 away victory over SC Villa of Uganda in the first leg of their 2024-25 CAF Champions League First Round tie. In the same competition, Tanzania's Yanga recorded an emphatic 4-0 win over Burundi's Vital'O, while Sudan's El Merreikh drew 0-0 away to Libya's Al Nasr.

In the First Round of the 2024-25 CAF Confederation Cup qualifiers played on Saturday, Tanzania's Coastal Union suffered a 3-0 defeat away to Angola's Bravo do Maquis, and Rwanda's Police succumbed to a 2-0 loss away to Algeria's Constantine.