Nsoatreman FC are on the brink of exiting the 2024–25 CAF Confederation Cup after a home defeat to Club Sportif Constantine at the Accra Sports Stadium.
The reigning Ghanaian FA Cup champions succumbed to a 2-0 home loss to CS Constantine in the first leg tie of the preliminary round of the competition on Friday afternoon.
Coach Yaw Preko's side failed to capitalize on their earlier chances through Kwabena Adu Meider and Stephen Diyou as the Algerian club took over possession to register two goals in the first 30 minutes of the game.
Nsoatreman FC looked dangerous in the early minutes when they launched a fearsome attack on the visitors, which saw Adu Meider and Diyou come close to hitting the target in the 5th and 9th minutes, respectively.
After their failure to find the back of the net, Zakaria Benchaa punished them a minute later with his side's first attempt at a goal in the fixture.
Benchaa opened the scoring for CS Constantine with a solo run from the flanks to strike the ball pass goalkeeper Daniel Afadzwu in the 10th minute of the game.
CS Constantine looked settled in the fixture when they staged an intense pressure on the hosts, with goalkeeper Daniel Afadzwu nearly gifting them the second goal through a blunder in the 15th minute, but he swiftly savaged the situation to keep hopes alive for Nsoatreman FC.
Before the half-hour mark, Zakaria Benchaa popped up with a long-range strike to register his second goal of the day in the 27th minute.
Trio Belhocini, Benchaira, and Mouaki kept tormenting the back line of Nsoatreman FC in the final ten minutes of the first half with the hope of extending their lead before the break.
Afadzwu denied them scoring from close range on the stroke of halftime, as it ended in a 2-0 defeat to the home side at the break.
In the second half, Nsoatreman FC made a tactical substitution with the introduction of Benjamin Tsivanyo and Collins Kudjo for Adu Kwabena Meider and Michael Ballack, respectively, with the aim of at least reducing the deficit before the hour mark.
Tsivanyo and Kudjo looked delighted at the early stages with their tricky display on the flanks to create enough chances for Nsoatreman FC, but their strikers were wasting upfront.
Nsoatreman FC could be found guilty for failing to record a draw with the numerous goal-glaring opportunities in the second half of the game.
Winger Walid Fuseini failed to pull one back for the ‘Efiri tete Amanaso’ lads with a rebound in the 78th minute of the game as he fired wide.
Nsoatreman FC will be traveling to Algeria next weekend for the reverse leg fixture against CS Constantine. The winner of the tie will progress to the group stage phase of the 2024–25 CAF Confederation Cup.
Match Report By: Gideon Kofi Nyamekye, Accra
