In their search for their fifth title in the African Champions League, defending champions Ahli moved to the last eight group stage after thrashing Renacimiento of Equatorial Guinea 4-0 in Cairo on Saturday. The first-leg match had ended goalless. Ahli's Mohamed Abu Treika's comeback after injury spurred Ahli's performance. All four goals were scored in the first half. Defender Emad El-Nahhas scored Ahli's first on the 18th minute followed by teammate Emad Metab who scored in the 25th with a strong header. Treika scored the third goal in the 41st minute after eluding his marker and Miteb inflicted more damage in the 45th minute. In the same competition, Ghana's Hearts of Oak qualified for the quarter-final after beating Tunisia's Etoile du Sahel on penalties 6-5 on Sunday for the first time since winning the title in 2000. "We practiced penalty kicks in training so we had no problems with them," Hearts defender Dan Quaye said. Hearts are the second Ghanaian side in the last eight after compatriots and two-time champions Asante Kotoko qualified first. Despite losing 1-0 away to Uscafoot of Madagascar on Sunday, Kotoko qualify 6-1 on aggregate due to their 6-0 first-leg victory two weeks earlier. "We fought very hard and deserve the qualification," Kotoko coach EK Afranie said. "Qualifying for the group stage of this competition means a lot to me personally and we will fight hard to go for the ultimate." Ivory Coast 's Asec beat Port Autonome of Senegal 6-0 at home to qualify 6-1 on aggregate. The 1995 champions Orlando Pirates of South Africa also reached the group stage after beating Al-Hilal of Sudan on away goals. The second leg ended 3-1 in favour of the Sudanese side but Pirates qualified after winning the first leg 2-0. Tunisia's CS Sfaxien qualified to the quarters after overcoming FAR Rabat of Morocco 2-1 on aggregate after winning the second leg of their third round tie 1-0 in Rabat. Sfaxien played with only 10 men from the 22nd minute after defender Bechir Mechergui was sent off. Enyimba of Nigeria secured their spot in the last eight on Saturday with a 1-0 away win over FC St Eloi Lupopo of the DR Congo in Lubumbashi to win 3-0 on aggregate . The draw for the next round of the competition will be held in Cairo on Saturday 13 May. The losers get a second chance of African glory by playing the eight Confederation Cup winners for places in the pool phase of the lesser competition. In the Confederation Cup, in round 16, Alexandria's Ittihad lost to Tunisia's Esperance after bowing out 4-2 in penalty kicks. The game in Alex had ended 1-0 in Ittihad's favour after a 1-0 loss to Esperance in Tunisia two weeks earlier after a 1-0 win. The game witnessed one Tunisian player taking an unprecedented penalty kick four times, the shots being repeated because of movement by the Ittihad goalie Samir Ashour before the shot was taken. "The referee was the direct reason for our loss," Ittihad coach Talaat Youssef said. Esperance coach Khaled Ben Yehia attributed his team's victory due to the difference in experience especially in African competition "Ittihad were good but my players were more experienced." In the same stage in the tournament, Haras Al-Hedoud of Egypt lost to Nigeria's Eiwa Nuono 3-2 in Nigeria. Drawing 0-0 in Cairo two weeks ago, both teams did their utmost to win the decider. Abdel-Hamid Bassiouni scored the first for Al-Hedoud but the goal was offset by a penalty. Al-Hedoud went ahead 2-1 but a second penalty kick tied it, followed by the winning third. Spectators pelted stones and bottles on Haras Al-Hedoud players to end the match. Tanzania's Moro United beat USJF Ravinala of Madagascar 3-1 at home on Saturday to qualify 5-2 on aggregate. The winners meet the eight losers of the third round of the Champions League over two legs in July.
