After their elimination from the CAF Champions League, Egyptian club Ahly did better against Tunisian side Club Africain in the CAF Confederation Cup round of 16, winning 2-1 in the New Suez Stadium while Zamalek of Egypt lost their first leg match 1-0 away to DR Congo's Sanga Balende in the same tournament, in the same round. The second leg matches take place in two weeks. Giants Ahly kicked off their campaign with a 2-1 comeback victory. Ahly came from a goal down to earn a valuable home win, after goals from strikers Ahmed Abdel-Zaher and Emad Meteb. The second leg match will be played in Tunisia on 7 June. Ahly allowed the hosts to score a first-half goal through striker Imed Minyeoui 10 minutes before the break. Midfielder Mahmoud Trezeguet ran to the byline and pulled the ball back to Ahmed Abdel-Zaher who fired in off the bar to level it at 1-1 before half time. Ahli coach Fathi Mabrouk's introduction of both veteran striker Meteb, who replaced Abdel-Zaher, and Ethiopian striker Saladin Said raised the team's attack potential as Meteb scored the second goal on the 64th minute . Ahly continued to press for a third goal but Club Africain's tight defence ensured the Tunisians would still have a good chance to advance when they host the Red Devils. Ahly were missing the efforts of a number of key players due to injuries including Walid Suleiman, Mo'men Zakaria, Mohamed Hani, and midfielder Hossam Ashour, in addition to Bassem Ali who missed the game due to a suspension. “We are trying to find tactical solutions,” said Ahly's newly appointed coach Mabrouk who replaced the sacked Spanish manager Juan Carlos Garrido last month. “The Club Africain game was difficult because the Tunisian side wasn't easy as it comprises a number of talented players who can make a difference,” Mabrouk said. Reports suggest that if Ahly do not qualify to the group stage of the championship, Mabrouk will be replaced by a foreigner. Mabrouk has guided the team to three straight victories since taking the helm, although they trail in the domestic league, eight points behind first place Zamalek which has a game in hand. Twelve games remain. “I did my best together with the whole team to maintain the players' winning spirit when they took on the Tunisian team,” Mabrouk said. It was the first time Ahly and Club Africain played each other in the continental championship. They have met only twice in previous Arab tournaments that finished once with a goalless draw and the second with a 4-1 win for the Tunisian side. Club Africain, winners of the1991 edition of the CAF Champions League title, will face Ahly after they defeated arch-rivals Esperance 1-0 in the Tunisian league last week. “Ahly will continue to be a great team despite their recent defeat in the CAF Champions League as it is a big team with a number of titles and trophies,” Wa'el Gomaa, Ahli's football manager, said following the game. “We cannot say that we were the best but this was the best we can offer as we played with half the team due to injuries. We were even unable to use all the players we had after Saber Khalifa's red card but I am thankful that we won.” “What the players did was the utmost as I used some in positions they are not used to and they have never played in,” Mabrouk added. “I think we still have hope as the Red Devils qualified a number of times at Tunisia's expense so I don't fear what is coming but we have to be well prepared.” On the other hand, Zamalek lost 1-0 to DR Congo's Sanga Balende in their first leg match of the 16th round to make their hunt for their first African Confederation Cup title difficult. The White Knights were stunned by an early goal from Musema Ngowa, who scored the winner after just 13 minutes. Ahmed Tawfik, Ahmed Ali and Bassem Morsi all had goals disallowed by the referee, prompting protests from the Zamalek management. “We were able to score three goals by Ahmed Tawfik, Ahmed Ali and Bassem Morsi which were cancelled by the referee although they were completely good goals,” Hani Abu Reida , Zamalek's board member, said. “The referee was taking sides and he did not count a number of fouls committed by players from the Congolese team. We will file an immediate complaint to the Confederation of African Football.” “The referee disallowed a legitimate goal by striker Ahmed Ali. The assistant referee ran to the centre of the pitch in a sign that the goal was legitimate, but he himself was stunned by the referee's decision,” Abu Reida said. It was Zamalek's first defeat under Portuguese coach Jesualdo Ferreira, who has guided Zamalek in 10 matches in all competitions so far. Zamalek will have to overturn the first-leg deficit in Suez in a fortnight to reach the group stage of Africa's secondary club competition. They are seeking to keep the trophy in Cairo after arch-rivals Ahly became the first Egyptian side to win the competition last year. Mortada Mansour , Zamalek's president, said after the match that he considered his team the winner. “We are the winners 2-1. I don't consider that we are losers and that is why I will give the players LE5,000 each as a bonus. I don't care about the result; what I care about is the performance of the players and they were men on the field. They did their best and they will qualify.” “We play these matches to win the trophy at the end. This is the ultimate objective. We don't want to just win some matches,” Zamalek's left back Ahmed Samir said on the club's official website. Meanwhile, Moroccan side Raja Athletic Club, CS Sfaxien of Tunisia and Mali's Stade Malien took giant steps towards the mini-league stage of the 2015 Orange CAF Confederation Cup following victories in the first leg matches of the round of 16 playoff on Saturday. The fact is that each side won by an identical scoreline, 2-0, sending their guests packing out empty. Three-time African champions Raja had first half goals from Abdelkabir El Ouadi and Nigeria import Christian Osaguona, enough to secure victory over Tunisian side Etoile du Sahel at the Mohamed V Complex in Casablanca. Elsewhere, Tunisia's Sfaxien, the most successful club in the history of the second-tier continental club championship with three titles, eased their way past Ivorian giants ASEC Mimosas in Sfax. Captain Ali Maaloul and Yassine Khenissi were on target in each half as the homers cruised to victory. In Bamako, Stade Malien proved too strong for AS Vita of DR Congo with a first leg cushioning. Moctar Mohamed Cisse broke the deadlock after five minutes before Ismael Kone signed off the win with a strike on 68 minutes. South African side Orlando Pirates recorded an unlikely victory away from home, beating AS Kaloum of Guinea 2-0 in Bamako on Friday. Thamsanqa Gabuza and Oupa Manyisa were on target in either half to give the Buccaneers a huge boost towards a place at the group stage. The second leg matches will take place on the weekend of 5-7 June.
