Reigning Ugandan league champions Vipers SC were left barely hanging on to their 2022-23 CAF Champions League survival after being condemned to back-to-back defeats by Tanzanian side Simba SC in Dar es Salaam.

Tuesday evening's away loss to Simba left the five-time Uganda Premier League champions firmly rooted to the bottom of Group C, having lost three of four games played so far and collecting just one point. They have conceded seven goals and scored none in a campaign that is fast-running away from them.

The result in Dar es Salaam leaves Roberto Luiz Bianchi's side facing a very wide open exit door, especially with the top spot already secured by Raja Casablanca of Morocco — who are on 12 points after dispatching Guinean side Horoya in the other group game — with only one spot up for grabs now.

Simba (six points) have leapfrogged Horoya (four points) into second of the table, with two games remaining across the board.

The Venoms' penultimate game will be against group leaders Raja Casablanca at St. Mary's Stadium on March 18.

Vipers will then wrap up their group stage campaign with a return tie against Horoya in Conakry on either March 31 or April 1.

How it unfolded

Simba's Brazilian head coach Roberto Oliveira, only three months into his new placement across the border, has successfully guided his side past his former club in two identical results in a space of 10 days that will feel like a painful sting for The Venoms.

Oliveira parted ways with Vipers at the end of last December after 16 months in charge. Under his tutelage, the 62-year-old tactician guided Vipers to the league title and into the group stage of the CAF Champions League — a first for the Kitende-based club.

His departure through the revolving door at St. Mary's Stadium saw the arrival and unveiling of fellow Brazilian Roberto Luiz Bianchi on January 10.

Ironically, Oliveira might just have dumped out of the competition the same team he shepherded to this stage of the continental competition with slender 1-0 away and home results.

Oliveira, facing his successor and compatriot Bianchi, sat calmly in the technical area of the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium under the Tanzanian evening sky as he watched a game start in contrasting fashion to his initial demeamour: a lively, end-to-end opening to a contest played out before an effervescent huge home crowd.

The hosts' Senegalese winger Pape Ousmane Sakho lifted the noisy crowd in the early stages of the game as he twice tested goalkeeper Alfred Mudekereza.

The first of that duo of chances forced Vipers' Congolese goalstopper into a well-time sliding block to deny the pacy Simba forward.

Sakho's other early chance was a much tamer header albeit one which, with more zip, would have troubled Mudekereza on another day. Not here though.

The watching crowds will have been delighted to see their respective sides fly out of the blocks with forward impetus, with Simba reliant on constructing their progression into the opposing final third with short passes while the visitors banking on blistering counterattacks.

What both sides failed to do though is to keep a firm hold of the ball, more often than not guilty of losing possession after no more than five passes at a time.

Once, Vipers forward Yunus Ssentamu tried to catch home goalkeeper Aishi Manula out with a long-range effort several yards out, but the strike was wide of the mark.

The visitors had earlier been relieved to see Ethiopian referee Bamlak Tessema Weyesa wave away passionate appeals by the home players for a penalty after the ball struck Vipers captain Siraje Sentamu's hand inside the box.

Replays showed the defender's hand appeared to be in an unnatural position as it made contact with the ball, but The Venoms will know they were lucky the referee's decision went their way. It could have been different on another occasion.

While Bianchi's side looked menancing on the attack, they also appeared vulnerable at the back, often forced into desperate defending amid marauding attacks from the ever-prancing home players.

Simba were unlucky to be denied by the wood work when a fierce header from a corner struck off the bar to keep the scoreline at default settings.

In an end-to-end contest, Vipers winger Abdu Lumala forced Manula into a fine low save with a left-footed effort after being fed through on goal, before teammate Ssentamu was shown the first yellow of the game for apparent simulation inside the Simba box under pressure from Yassin Mzamiru.

On the other end of the pitch, Saidi Ntibazonkiza was wasteful with a glorious opportunity in front of goal after Clatous Chama doing well to feed him after slaloming past a Vipers minder on the left byline.

Into the final 15 minutes of the opening half, the initially high tempo fizzled out, as both sets of players slowed to catch their breath after an intense start. Chances fell to both sides, but goal-bound efforts that had the power were undone by lack of precision, and sometimes pace.

It was also a physical contest under floodlights and high humidity, and one player to have felt this intensity was Vipers forward Ibrahim Orit, who was easily muscled off the ball by Enoch Inonga Baka once he raced on to a threaded pass into the Simba box, only to hit a human cul-de-sac.

The visitors' goalkeeper also felt the force of the game's vigour when he landed awkwardly while tipping over an effort from Mzamiru after a streak of delightful one-two passes from the home players.

Mudekereza was soon back down, once again rolling in apparent pain, after picking up a knock from his own player in a goalmouth aerial scramble to clear the ensuing corner kick. Swift medical attention got him back on his feet to carry on.

But it all got worse for the Vipers keeper not long after, as Chama left Livingstone Mulondo for dead inside the box, before nutmegging the Venoms keeper to slot home the opening goal in first half stoppage time to erupt the stadium into defeaning noise.

The second half got under way just like the first had, with both teams intent on an adventurous approach.

In fact, it did not take long for Ssentamu to put the ball in the back of the Simba net after a brilliant run one minute after the restart. But the visitors' celebrations were almost immediately cut short when nervous eyes instinctively turned to the linesman, whose flag was already up for offside.

While that early strike did well to ring warning bells to the hosts, it only fuelled Vipers with more belief that a comeback was very much within reach.

Their coach, meanwhile, constantly pranced the touchline in animated fashion, often barking orders to his players in pursuit of an equaliser. But he must have done it a little too much, as referee Weyesa was forced to move to him and flash a yellow card in his face.

As the game wore on, flash points inevitably underlined how significant a result was for both sides. In a Simba attack 20 minutes before time, Vipers captain Siraje Ssentamu and opponent Moses Phiri got booked after flexing muscles following a collision between Phiri, Mulondo and goalkeeper Mudekereza.

Later, Chama nearly put the contest to bed after rounding Mudekereza and another Vipers player, before seeing his weak final pass into the area blasted out of danger.

On the other end, visitors substitute Abubakar Lawal almost snatched a crucial late equaliser but his back-heel effort inside the box after half-hearted clearances by the hosts was easily collected by Manula.

Eventually, the 22-time Tanzanian Premier League winners managed to see out the four minutes of added time to complete successive victories over the Ugandan champions and place their out-of-the-group progression fate firmly in their own hands.

Tough group stage

This is the first time Vipers are playing in this competition's group stage, but it was a forgettable start to their campaign after losing 5-0 away to three-time champions Raja Casablanca in their opening group game on February 10.

Eight days later, the Ugandan side were held at home to a goalless draw by Horoya.

Their third match — against Simba — was also at home, on February 25. Congolese defender Enoch Inonga Baka scored the lone winner for the visitors to condemn Vipers to the bottom of the table.

Now that four games have been played, it remains a steep climb for Vipers, having fired blanks the entire campaign and have no single goal to show for.

The group stage of Africa's premier club football tournament is new territory for them. The farthest they ever reached in their previous three appearances was the first round.

In the 2020-2021 campaign, Vipers lost 0-2 on aggregate to Sudanese side Al Hilal at the preliminary round.

In 2018-19, the Venoms' campaign ended at the first round stage when they lost 0-3 on aggregate to Algerian side CS Constantine.

In 2016, Vipers did not go farther than the preliminary round, where they lost 1-2 on aggregate to Nigerian side Enyimba.

After winning their first league title in 2010, Vipers were a no show in the 2011 CAF Champions League.

KCCA are the only other Ugandan side to have reached the group stage in the revamped CAF Champions League, which ushered in the group stage era.

In 2018, KCCA exited at the group stage after finishing third in Group A with six points (two wins, four losses).

No Ugandan team have advanced from the group stage in the completed 26 editions of the current CAF Champions League.