Royal AM heads back to Moses Mabhida

Royal AM will again use Durban's Moses Mabhida Stadium for their African Confederation Cup campaign, hosting ZESCO United from Zambia there on Sunday in the first leg of their second round tie.

Royal AM, who usually play their home matches at Chatsworth Stadium, hosted the return leg of their first round tie against Mbabane Highlanders of Eswatini there as well.

Moses Mabhida Stadium is on the tightly-scrutinised list of stadia passed fit for use by the Confederation of African Football for continental competition while Chatsworth is not, forcing the club to make the switch.

Royal AM beat Highlanders 2-0 at the stadium on September 16 to advance to their meeting with the Zambian team.

ZESCO are no strangers to South Africa, having played against Premier Soccer League opponents three years in a row from 2016-2018.

Mamelodi Sundowns beat them by the narrowest of margins in the 2016 Champions League semifinal before going onto win the trophy for the first time.

Pitso Mosimane’ side lost the first leg in Zambia 2-1 but rallied to take the return game 2-0 at Atteridgeville and advance to the final.

The next year ZESCO were back to face SuperSport United with both legs ending in draws but SuperSport advancing to the semifinals on the away goals rule. SuperSport went onto to reach the final where they lost to TP Mazembe of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In the same competition in 2018, Zesco eliminated Kaizer Chiefs in the third round, beating them 3-1 at home and 2-1 two away for a convincing 5-2 aggregate triumph.

Zesco will host Royal AM in Ndola in the second leg of their tie on Saturday, October 15. The winner advances to the final knockout round to determine places in the group phase of the competition.