CAFCL: JS Kabylie earn first leg advantage over GoldStars

Algerian titans JS Kabylie earned a 2-0 first leg victory over Ghanaian champions GoldStars in their 2025/26 CAF Champions League (CAFCL) qualifying tie on Saturday.

The first leg of the preliminary round came up at the Accra Sports Stadium in front of empty seats. JSK came out stronger, stringing passes together after sizing up GoldStars in the first seven minutes of the first half.

Goalkeeper Emmanuel Kobi made an important save to deny the visitors in the 8th minute following a dangerous attack. The Algerian side came close two minutes later with a superlative effort but Lahlou Akhrib’s goal was adjudged offside.

Gold Stars came out of their shells when Emmanuel Agyemang raced into JSK’s goal area but he misfired his effort in the 20th minute. The visitors found the back of the net immediately after Gold Stars incursion when left winger, Billal Messaoudi poked a pass in the penalty area behind keeper Emmanuel Kobi in the 22nd minute.

JSK remained the better side throughout the remaining half, moving into the break with the slim 1-0 lead. Kabylie brought the second half alive with great inter-positional display which threatened GoldStars’ midfield set up.

GoldStars struggled to contain the intelligent play of JS Kabylie with most of the Ghanaian club’s passes going wayward. The Miners’ final touch in the opponent’s final third equally failed to reach the desired result, leaving the virtually empty stadium disappointed.

A slight surge in Gold Stars’ play saw them come close to finding the equalizer but Sampson Eduku failed to meander past the array of JSK defenders in the 67th minute. Kabylie increased the tally in the 71st minute through Babacar Sarr after a fine exchange of passes in the Gold Stars third to further silence the sparsely populated stadium.

The final whistle sounded in Accra with JS Kabylie returning home with a massive 2-0 first leg advantage heading into the reverse fixture a week later.