VIDEO: Clottey's hat-trick sinks Zamalek in Ghana

A stoppage-time goal gives Ghana's Chelsea a 3-2 home victory over an error-ridden Zamalek side in the African Champions League on Saturday

African Champions League top scorer Emmanuel Clottey scored a hat-trick that included a stoppage-time winner to help debutants Chelsea of Ghana to a deserved 3-2 victory over Egypt's Zamalek in their opening Group B game on Saturday.
The 24-year-old clinched a precious win for the Champions League debutants with a late strike after making the most of some sloppy defending, which haunted Zamalek throughout the game as the Cairo side struggled to hit top gear due to the ongoing Egyptian football stoppage.
In a carbon copy of the performance of the Egyptian national team, who stunningly failed to qualify for the African Nations Cup last month, Zamalek looked a pale shadow of their old self.
Lack of match fitness looked to have taken its toll on them, although they took the lead twice through a brace from debutant Abdoulaye Cisse, who joined from Masry after the club was banned for one season in the wake of the Port Said tragedy.
Clottey, who is rapidly rising to stardom, equalized twice before completing his hat-trick in the dying seconds to give Chelsea all three points.
Zamalek's arch-rivals Ahly host TP Mazembe in Cairo in the other Group B game on Sunday.
Pulsating half
A pulsating first-half saw both sides mount early threats, but the hosts had the lion's share, thanks to the tireless work of Clottey who unsettled Zamalek's shaky backline.
The presence of three holding midfielders in Zamalek's starting line-up - Alexis Mendomo, Ibrahim Salah and Nour El-Sayed - hardly paid off as Chelsea poured forward from the very beginning to carve open the defence of their opponents.
They almost grabbed the lead in the first minute when a defensive lapse allowed Clottey to go clear but he was unlucky to see his shot with the outside of his right foot strike the crossbar.
Zamalek opened the scoring against the run of play midway through the first half when Cisse, who started the move, ran onto a defence-splitting pass from attacking midfielder Islam Awad to coolly chip the ball over keeper Ernest Sowah and into the net.
The lively Clottey almost hit back one minute later but his curling free-kick came back off the post. He made amends, however, in the 29th minute, capitalizing on some poor marking from Hani Saied to send a diving header into an empty net after a right-wing cross eluded keeper Abdel-Wahed El-Sayed.
The unmarked Cisse restored Zamalek's advantage in the 34th minute with a close-range header after a deflected cross from Awad fell into his path but he was substituted shortly afterwards after apparently sustaining an injury, making way for Egypt's U-23 team forward Mohamed Ibrahim.
Zamalek's recurring defensive frailties still allowed Chelsea to lay siege to their area in the latter stages of the first period but the visitors survived the onslaught, thanks to some fine saves from El-Sayed.
Clottey heroics
Seconds into the second half, Chelsea deservedly levelled the score when Clottey outpaced the sluggish Mahmoud Fathallah to receive a threaded pass, break clear, round El-Sayed and slot into an empty net.
Both sides eased off afterwards, prompting Zamalek coach Hassan Shehata to introduce combative striker Amr Zaki in a bid to inject zeal.
However, it was Chelsea who relatively had the upper hand, with Zamalek restricted to some blistering long-range shots from midfielder Nour El-Sayed which were blocked by keeper Sowah.
El-Sayed came rushed out in a timely manner to thwart a shot from substitute Ibrahim Issaka with seven minutes remaining but he was powerless to stop Chelsea from securing a late win.
Issaka held off Hani Saied to square the ball to the unmarked Clottey, who made no mistake with an easy tap-in, sparking wild celebrations in the Chelsea bench.
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