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Slender lead
Abeer Anwar Published in Al-Ahram Weekly on 25 - 04 - 2019

In their Total CAF Confederation Cup first leg match held in Alexandria in the semi-final round, Zamalek edged Etoile du Sahel of Tunisia 1-0 in Alexandria. The sole goal by Egypt's White Knights came from Mahmoud Abdel-Monem, better known as Kahraba, who scored on the 36th minute as Zamalek seek their first continental title since 2003.
“We won 1-0. It is a good result against a respected opponent but nothing is settled yet,” Zamalek's Swiss head coach Christian Gross said. “We played a good first half but were unable to complete in the second half. I think it will be a fiery match and our job won't be an easy one.”
Zamalek travel to Sousse next week for the return, hoping not to repeat the 2015 scenario when both sides met in the semi-finals of the Confederation Cup, with Etoile going through with a 5-4 aggregate win in an exciting two-legged duel.
On Sunday, Zamalek's performance was greatly affected by the absence of injured Tunisian midfielder Ferjani Sassi. Zamalek were up to the challenge in the first half but after scoring, the team resorted to defence although it was too early to park the bus, preventing themselves from adding to the score to make their job easier in Tunisia.
Zamalek goalkeeper Mahmoud Gennesh denied a number of chances on goal. Etoile's best chance came through Yassine Chikhaoui, who somehow mis-hit his effort when well-placed to score after a defence-splitting pass found him in the 72nd minute.
Zamalek have never won the Confederation Cup. They have won the more prestigious Champions League five times.
The second leg of the Confederation Cup takes place in Sousse on 5 May with the winner facing either CS Sfaxien (Tunisia) or RS Berkane (Morocco) in the final.
CS Sfaxien inched closer to the final of the Confederation Cup after a 2-0 victory over RS Berkane in the semi-final on Sunday 28 April in Sfax, Tunisia.
Three-time winners Sfaxien evenly split the goals between each half of the game. Ala Marzougui was the man behind the first goal while Hamza Mathlouthi converted a penalty in the second half.

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