JS Kabylie barred from reaching African Champions League final by potent TP Mazembe

Title-Holders TP Mazembe of DR Congo reached the final of the prestigious African Champions League football competition after strenuously holding home-team JS Kabylie to a goalless draw in a packed Tizi Ouzou stadium on Saturday night.

•  The visiting Congolese side, who had won their semi-final first leg versus JS Kabylie by 3 goals to 1 in Lumumbashi a fortnight ago, defended tightly to keep their two-goal lead intact.
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• TP Mazembe, who won the Champions League in 1967 and 1968 and finished runners-up in 1969 and 1970, will face the winning team from Sunday’s semi-final clash between Ahly of Egypt and Esperance of Tunis.
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• The two-time African champions could have beaten JS Kabylie in the return leg as referee Jerome Damon pointed at the penalty spot when one of their  surging strikers was felled in the 18 meter area of the Kabylian side.
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• However, the South African referee backtracked on his decision when the linesman raised his flag for offside.
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• JS Kabylie were reduced to ten men when midfielder Billel Naili received his marching orders from the referee on the hour mark for no apparent reason.
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• The Kabylian hosts carved out a countless number of scoring chances throughout the match but couldn’t convert any of them owing to a lack of concentration and cohesion.
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