Dayo strikes as Moroccans Berkane win CAF Confederation Cup

JOHANNESBURG: Defender Issoufou Dayo scored a rare goal to give Renaissance Berkane of Morocco a 1-0 win over Pyramids of Egypt in Sunday’s CAF Confederation Cup final.

Dayo only previous effort in the competition came more than a year ago at home to Ashanti Gold of Ghana in a round-of-32 second leg. The title decider was delayed five months because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Beaten in the final of the secondary African club competition last season by Zamalek of Egypt, Berkane made no mistake at the second attempt and should have won more convincingly in Rabat.

The Moroccans created far more scoring chances than the Egyptians before surviving a tense finish when reduced to 10 men on 89 minutes after Bakr el Helali was shown a red-card.

Burkina Faso international Dayo — the only non-Moroccan in the starting line-up — struck after 15 minutes at the Stade Moulay Abdallah in a match staged behind closed doors.

A goalmouth scramble after a free-kick ended with the centre-back credited with the goal that proved the match-winner.

Berkane are the fifth Moroccan club after FAR Rabat, FUS Rabat, Moghreb Fes and Raja Casablanca to win the African equivalent of the Europa League.