Singida Fountain Gate saw off Al-Ghazal 3-0 in the first preliminary round of the CAF Confederation Cup on Saturday. The result gives the Tanzanian side a comfortable advantage after their first leg meeting five days ago. They had already beaten Al-Ghazal 7-1 that time, and this was a different kind of performance.
The goals came at 13 minutes, 21 minutes and 66 minutes. By then the visitors looked resigned rather than surprised. To be fair, they had every reason to expect trouble after that opening night.
The match statistics are all zeros for both sides — blocked shots, corners, fouls, possession, everything. It is hard to draw conclusions from a blank sheet. What matters is the scoreboard and the way the goals came.
Singida sit third in their table after six games. One win, two draws, three defeats for five points. Not much to celebrate, but beating the same opposition twice in a week counts for something in this competition.
Al-Ghazal's only recent result on record is that 1-7 defeat here. They will need to regroup quickly if they want to salvage anything from this tie. The visitors had nothing to do all evening, or so it seemed.
The tie remains open, but Singida have made life difficult for themselves. Going forward three goals to nil after a seven-goal first leg is not a position you want to be in. The return leg will test whether that advantage means anything.