JOHANNESBURG: The past returned to haunt Ivorian club Africa Sports on Sunday as they were eliminated from the African Champions League in the second round. Jean Michael Sery scored in each half to earn the Abidjan club a 2-0 home victory over five-time champions Zamalek of Egypt only to lose the tie 5-4 on penalties after a 2-2 aggregate deadlock. Africa Sports suffered an identical fate in the 1986 final, failing in a shootout at the Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium after each club had triumphed 2-0 at home. Defending champions Etoile Sahel of Tunisia cruised into the third and final qualifying round despite suffering a record-equaling 3-0 loss at AS Douanes of Senegal. The Red Devils , who lifted the trophy for the first time last November after a stunning victory over Al-Ahly in Egypt, were reduced to 10 men in the fifth minute when teenage Ghanaian striker Sadat Bukari was sent off. But the team from the Mediterranean resort of Sousse held on to a 5-0 first leg advantage until collapsing in the closing stages when Sadio Diao scored twice and Babacar Mbengue once. FC 105 of Gabon and Sporting Club Praia of the Cape Verde Islands, the giantkillers of the first round, were among the casualties with the latter club cursing their luck. Clinging to a one-goal advantage, Praia contained Angolan police outfit InterClube in Luanda until stoppage time when Minguito struck and his team squeezed through on the away-goal rule after losing 2-1 in west Africa. Gabonese military side FC 105 surprisingly fell 1-0 in Libreville against twice champions Tout Puissant Mazembe, who had been held 1-1 in the Democratic Republic of Congo two weeks ago. All the 2007 semi-finalists survived the last-32 stage with Al-Hilal of Sudan and Al-Ittihad of Libya advancing to join Etoile Sahel and Al-Ahly, who had a bye, in the next phase of the $3.5 million competition. Experienced international campaigners Hilal took a two-goal advantage over debutants ZESCO United to the Zambian copperbelt town of Ndola and went ahead two minutes before half-time through Ahmed Adil. Enock Sakala converted a 58th-minute penalty for ZESCO to salvage a 1-1 draw while Hilal booked a third-round date with Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa, who completed a double over Curepipe Starlight with a 1-0 win in Mauritius. Former Coventry City and Sheffield Untied striker Peter Ndlovu scored the first-half winner for Sundowns, his fourth goal this year in the African Football Confederation club showpiece. Ittihad lost 2-1 at Primeiro Agosto of Angola, but qualified on the away goal rule thanks to a late srike by Mohamed Zubya after Zambian Harry Milanzi had scored twice for the home team. JS Kabylie of Algeria, twice winners of a competition first staged 43 years ago, forced a 0-0 draw at AshantiGold of Ghana despite having striker Nabil Hemani sent off and progressed 3-0 on aggregate.
