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Red Arrows have made a winning start to their CAF Confederation Cup campaign after thumping Madagascar’s FC Rouge 2-0 at the Levy Mwanawasa Stadium on Saturday night. Goals from Eliya Mandanji and Alassane Diarra gave the Airmen a valuable first leg advantage in the first preliminary round tie. Arrows took a 1-0 lead into halftime thanks to forward Mandanji’s 39th minute strike. Alassane Diarra then doubled the home side’s lead 12 minutes after the break to seal a 2-0 victory for the Zambian champions. The result puts Arrows in a strong position ahead of the return leg. Despite the win, Arrows coach Chisi Mbewe said he was not fully satisfied with his team’s performance. “I think this is a good result but I think I’m a bit disappointed because we didn’t perform to the best of our ability. We created a lot of chances which we failed to convert,” Mbewe said. “We have learnt a lot of lessons from this game. I would say the most important thing is that we scored two goals and we didn’t concede,” he added. CAF officials barred Rouge coach Abdoul Amada from sitting on the bench due to questions over his credentials. Amada said the development affected his team. “At the beginning of this game we prepared our team but before the game there were some administrative issues related to my qualification to sit on the bench and unfortunately I couldn’t sit on the bench and that negatively affected the physiology of the players,” Amada told a post-match media conference. Rouge and Arrows will meet in the second leg of the preliminary round on 13 September 2026 in Saint Louis, Mauritius. Arrows makes CAF Cup winning start Loading read count...