Zesco knockout Rangers

Zesco United’s John Chingandu scored twice against Enugu Rangers on Saturday night in Ndola, Zambia to propel the Zambian club to the 2017 CAF Confederation Cup group stage.

And they finally defeated Rangers 3-0 at Levy Mwanawasa Stadium to advance to next month’s league round of the competition 5-2 on aggregate. The first match in Enugu last week had ended 2-2 after Rangers gave up a 2-0 lead.

Saturday’s result couldn’t have come as such a surprise as Rangers came straight off the plane to the stadium after landing at 14h20 ahead of the game which kicked off at 17h30. The Nigerians suffered a 24 hour delay in their arrival due to players boycott back home on Thursday at Enugu Airport over unpaid allowances.

The jet-lagged Rangers thus found themselves 2-0 down heading into the break after starting on a threatening note before fading as the match approached the opening 30 minutes.

Chingandu struck first in the 24th minute and completed his brace in the 38th minute according to a Lusaka Times report. Jesse Were then added the final goal in the 62nd minute to send Zesco to their second successive continental group stage appearance following their semi-final success in the 2016 CAF Champions League.

Expectedly Rangers officials have already fingered jet-lag as the cause of their defeated in Ndola.