Last season's Caf Confederation Cup winners Raja Casablanca beat Tunisian club Esperance 2-1 at the 20,000 seater Thani Bin Jassim Stadium in Doha, Qatar on Friday night.
It was a special night in 2022 Fifa World Cup host nation Qatar, who witnessed an important Caf club game played outside the continent of Africa for the first time.
Both teams took their time to get used to the conditions. In the 22nd minute, Abdelilah Hafidi's beautiful strike broke the deadlock for Raja.
Then Hafidi nearly turned provider when he attempted to assist Soufiane Rahimi who failed to score. Raja dominated proceedings while their goalkeeper Anas Zniti didn't have much to do in the first half.
Just before the hour mark Esperance's Youcef Belaili scored past Past Zniti to give the Tunisian outfit a surprise equalizer with a thunderous right-footed effort from the edge of the box.
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Now, it was anyone's game and the reigning Caf Champions League winners were ready to turn the match around.
Eight minutes later, up stepped Raja captain Badr Benoun to reclaim the initiative. Benoun impressed the Qatar spectators with excellent close control, flicking the ball past Esperance keeper Rami Jrdi.
Raja Casablanca held on to their narrow lead to lift their second Caf Super Cup title in the end.
It was a surprising result because Esperance went into the final enjoying a good run that had seen them finish the group stages of their Champions League title unbeaten.
On the other hand, Raja was struggling after failing to reach the quarter-finals of the Confederation Cup – a competition they had won a season ago.
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