CAF CC : MC Alger Eliminates Platinum Stars

South African Club Platinum Stars' hopes of progressing to the knockout stages of the CAF Confederations Cup were ended,after they lost 2-0 to MC Alger on Friday evening.

Alger were awarded a penalty after 10 minutes when Zakarya Mansouri was adjudged to have been brought down.
Abderrahane Hachoud stepped up and converted the spot-kick, 1-0. After a quiet spell in the half, the hosts nearly doubled their in the 30th minute but Hichem Nekkache's attempted lob sailed inches wide of the upright.

Stars, meanwhile, started enjoying more of the possession after 35 minutes but they were finding it tough to carve out a chances in the 18-yard area.

However, Dikwena should have leveled matters just before the halftime break, as Bongi Ntuli out-muscled two defenders but was unable to beat Fawzi Chaouchi from 12-yards out.

The hosts continued to threaten after the break and went close through Sid Aouadj and Nekkache in the opening 10 minutes. Dikwena shaded the possession statistics in the second stanza, but they failed to pose a threat to home side's defence, with Ntuli cutting a frustrated figure at times.

With time running out, Willem Jackson opted to withdraw Robert Ng'ambi for Benson Shilonhgo in the 76th minute as they pushed for an equaliser. Stars nearly leveled matters in the first minute of stoppage time, but Chaouchi produced a fine finger-tip save to top a potential own goal.

However, Alger sealed the win a minute later as Nekkache found the back of the net with a superb volley from 20-yards out that left Chibwe with no chance.