It all started with Zamalek, the White Castle, whose players made their fans suffer a Ramadan night as the team was losing 1-0 till the dying minutes when Zambian sub Emmanuel Mayuka snatched the tying goal in the fourth minute of stoppage time, allowed to him by a howler from USM Alger goalkeeper Mohamed Zemmamouche in their Group B CAF Champions League clash. On Friday 2 June USM of Algeria were about to surprise all with a win at the 90,000-seat Borg El Arab Stadium near Alexandria after leading on the 30th-minute through Farouk Chafai. Former Southampton striker Mayuka had come off the bench as 2016 runners-up Zamalek sought a way back into a game from which they were expected to collect maximum points. Zamalek's Portuguese coach Augusto Inacio expressed his unease at the wasted scoring chances of his team after the 1-1 draw. “We are still suffering from wasting easy scoring chances, but we will work hard in the coming period to overcome this issue,” Inacio said in a press conference after the match. “Missing scoring chances is not acceptable in important matches like Friday's one,” he added. The 62-year-old Inacio, who took charge of Zamalek in April on an 18-month contract, also flagged other issues with the draw. “USM Alger's medical staff entered the pitch more than 10 times to waste time. Also the referee denied us a goal in the last minutes and he blew the final whistle after just two minutes out of the six of extra time,” he said. With the rescue draw, Zamalek kept their lead of their African Champions League Group B with three games played and three to go before the start of the quarter-finals. Zamalek, who reached the final last season but lost to South Africa's Mamelodi Sundowns 3-1 on aggregate, top the group with five points from a win and two draws, one ahead of USM and Ahli Tripoli, who defeated Zimbabwe's Caps United (three points) 4-2 earlier in the day. Ahly Tripoli scored three goals in nine minutes during the first half to shock Caps in Harare and become contenders for a top-two finish and a quarter-final place. Winning their first Champions League title since 2002 could be the best hope for Zamalek fans after losing the domestic league title race to arch-rivals Ahly. In other matches in the championship, according to cafonline, Zanaco of Zambia maintained a great start in Group D as an 85th-minute Diddy Kitumbo goal delivered a 2-1 win over struggling Coton Sport of Cameroon in Lusaka. Ethiopia's Saint George defeated AS Vita Club of the DR Congo 1-0 in the latest round of group games in this year's African Champions League. A goal from Ethiopia international Saladin Said was enough to give the home side a victory in front of their home fans in Addis Ababa on Sunday. Said's 60th minute strike helped the Ethiopian side boost their hopes of reaching the knock-out phase of the competition, moving them into second place in Group C. Saint George are two points adrift of leaders Esperance of Tunisia who beat defending champions Mamelodi Sundowns 2-1 in South Africa on Saturday. AS Vita Club, who were crowned African champions in 1973, are bottom of the Group C standings, yet to register a single point. Ferroviario Beira of Mozambique won for the first time in Group A, edging Sudanese visitors Al Merrikh 1-0 through a 67th-minute Dayo Antonio goal. Ferroviario are competing in the elite African club competition for the first time — 93 years after the club was formed. Etoile Sahel of Tunisia, who host Al Hilal of Sudan late on Saturday, have six points, Ferroviario four, Hilal two and Merrikh one. Sundowns' title defence took a major blow on Friday evening after suffering their first ever CAF Champions League defeat at home, at the Lucas Moripe Stadium in Tshwane. A last-minute penalty converted by Taha Khenissi was enough to give the visitors all three points after both sides were deadlocked at 1-1 from the first half. Record eight-time champions Ahly of Egypt beat Wydad Casablanca 2-0 in their Group D at Borg Al-Arab stadium. Moemen Zakareya put the Red Devils in front after 24 minutes and Junior Ajayi secured the victory with just over 10 minutes to go. Ahly go top of the pool on goal difference over Zanaco, with both tied on seven points from three games so far. Wydad have three and Coton none. Ahly coach Hossam Al-Badri said on Sunday that his team did their best and were able to retop the group due to the efforts of their players who were up to the challenge. He also commented on the “escape” of Ahly's Souleymane Coulibaly. “The reason Ivorian striker Souleymane Coulibaly's left the team is that the player is unprofessional and failed to play under pressure due to the games' sequence. Ahly always play under pressure, as we always have to win the game, but Coulibaly could not bear playing under pressure and decided to escape,” the Ahly coach said. Ahly have lodged a complaint with FIFA against Coulibaly after he missed training session two weeks ago without permission. Coulibaly said he had flown to London for private reasons, according to Ahly football director Sayed Abdel-Hafiz. The 22-year-old later said he sought to terminate his contract with Ahly, a request that was rejected by the Cairo giants. Al-Badri says that Ahly have had foreign players in his squad, including the current players Tunisian winger Ali Maaloul and Nigerian striker Junior Ajayi, all of whom have met the fans' hopes and have had a superb relationship with the team's management and the team. “Ajayi and Maaloul work in a professional way, unlike Coulibaly. There is a big difference between Ajayi, Maaloul and the Ivorian striker,” the head coach said. “Our ambition is to play to win whatever tournament we're going into,” Al-Badri said as his team celebrated the domestic league trophy last week. “Only trophies are at stake for us, nothing less.” In the second-tier African football club tournament, the Confederation Cup, Smouha of Egypt were held to a 1-1 home draw by Sudan's Hilal El-Obeid in Group C at Alexandria's Borg El-Arab Stadium on Saturday. The hosts took the lead through ex-Zamalek striker Ahmed Hassan Mekki from the penalty spot in the first half, before an own goal from center-back Mahmoud Ezzat brought the visitors level after the break. The Alexandrians, who entered their third group game on top on goal difference, are still in charge with four points, one ahead of Zambia's ZESCO United and Angola's Recreativo who were to face off on Sunday.
