Eight-time record holder Ahly of Egypt crushed Algerian visitors JS Saoura 3-0 at Borg Al-Arab Stadium in Alexandria to top the final group standings with 10 points to squeeze into the quarter-finals of the African Champions League. Tanzania's Simba also qualified with nine points. Failing to progress were Saoura with eight points and DR Congo's Vita Club which finished with seven points. The Red Devils were goalless 30 minutes into the game when Fateh Talah conceded an own goal. Marwan Mohsen doubled the lead in first-half stoppage time. Hussein Al-Shahat completed the rout nine minutes from time as Ahly seek to go one step further this season after losing the last two finals. Trophy-holders Esperance of Tunisia and Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa had already secured quarter-finals places. Ahly and Simba were joined by Wydad Casablanca of Morocco, Horoya AC of Guinea, TP Mazembe of DR Congo and CS Constantine of Algeria. Clatous Chama scored in the final minute Saturday to snatch a CAF Champions League quarter-finals place for Simba Sports Club, the first Tanzanian side to achieve the feat. Wydad edged Sundowns 1-0 in Rabat to win Group A on head-to-head records with the lone goal coming from Mohamed Nahiri just past the hour mark. Horoya also triumphed at home to South African opponents, beating Orlando Pirates 2-1 in Conakry due to second-half goals from Abdoulaye Camara and Boniface Haba. Mazembe replaced Constantine at the top of Group C by beating the North Africans 2-0 in Lubumbashi with Jackson Muleka converting a penalty and veteran TresorMputu also scoring. Egyptian club Zamalek celebrated abroad after drawing goalless when they visited Algeria's Nasr Hussein Dey on Sunday, making it to the quarter-finals of the second-tier CAF Confederation Cup. A point in Algiers was enough for the White Knights to go through to the quarter-finals and guarantee their place in the knockout stages draw, set for Wednesday 20 March in Cairo. It was a steep climb for Zamalek who at the outset had lost 4-2 in Nairobi to Kenyan champions Gor Mahia, then managed just two home 1-1 draws with Nasr Hussein Dey and Angola's Petro Atletico. But Zamalek revived their hopes with a vital away 1-0 victory over Petro, followed by an emphatic 4-0 home win against Gor Mahia in Alexandria last weekend. Needing just a draw against Hussein Dey to go through, Zamalek were content to sit back and soak up pressure, with the hosts failing to muster a single effort on goal in a dour affair at Stade du 5 Juillet. NA Hussein Dey pushed forward from the outset but they were kept at bay by a compact Zamalek rearguard marshaled by central defender Mahmoud Alaa. At the same time, Zamalek were challenged by never winning in all their continental games in Algeria. In four previous visits for the North African country, Zamalek lost twice and drew in as many, with their last trip there ending in a 2-0 defeat to USM Alger in the 2017 CAF Champions League group stage. Zamalek finished on top of Group D with nine points, level with second-place Gor Mahia who beat Angola's Petro Atletico, who finished at the bottom with seven points, 1-0 at home despite playing with nine men. Zamalek thus continue their bid to win their first ever Confederation Cup title. Other teams to progress to the quarter-finals of the Confed Cup included Gor Mahia, Tunisia's Etoile du Sahel, and Moroccan pair Hassania Agadir and Renaissance Berkane.
