A hat-trick from Ahmed Abdel-Ghani, who avoided the unlikely option of playing as a goalkeeper, gave Egypt's Harras Al-Hodoud a 5-1 home victory over Tanzania's Simba and a place in the Confederation Cup fourth round in the coastal city of Alexandria on Saturday night. Al-Hodoud trailed 2-1 from the first leg, but secured an emphatic victory to go through with a 6-3 aggregate win. Abdel-Ghani, who would have been forced to play as a keeper if Ali Farag had sustained an injury or received a red card, due to lack of goalkeeping options on the bench, was very effective upfront. He scored three goals and his strike partner Ahmed Mekki notched twice to lift Hodoud past Simba, whose only goal came through Emmanuel Okwi. Hodoud's coach Tareq el-Ashri's side will book a place in the group stage if they win their next two-legged tie against an opponent who is yet to be determined. They will face one of the teams, who will bow out from the Champions League round of 16. Hodoud needed just two minutes to grab the initiative and overturn the first-leg deficit. Egyptian international forward Ahmed Eid, one of Hodoud's most consistent performers, superbly eluded a challenger on the left before exchanging passes with a teammate on the edge of the area. He sent in a low cross that was diverted into the net by Mekki on the second attempt, after his initial close-range effort was blocked by the Simba keeper. Hodoud looked on course for a comfortable victory when Abdel-Ghani doubled their advantage on 12 minutes with a low shot from inside the area after a goal-mouth scramble. But Simba, who had earlier gone close with a low shot from Juma Jabu, threatened to ruin their night with a 37th-minute goal. They were awarded a penalty after diminutive left-back Mohamed Mekki, who says Zamalek are interested in signing him in the summer, unintentionally handled a cross after needlessly waving his arm. Okwi stepped up to convert the penalty and level the aggregate score. However, another penalty, this time at the other end, gifted Hodoud a third goal on the stroke of halftime. Abdel-Ghani sent the keeper the wrong way after being tripped by Jabu inside the area. Hodoud, who lie seventh in the Egyptian Premier League table, ran riot in the second half to put the result beyond doubt. Mekki added the fourth on the hour mark with a free header that went under the body of the keeper and into the net. Towering striker Abdel-Ghani, Hodoud's top scorer in the league with nine goals, completed his hat-trick 13 minutes from time with a delightful curling shot to wrap up the convincing win. Meanwhile, a 1-0 loss to Tunisia's Sfaxien on Saturday brought Petrojet's first African experience to a premature end in Tunisia. The Egyptian side, who were held to a 1-1 home draw in the first leg last month, bowed out of the Confederation Cup third round after a 2-1 aggregate defeat by the much more experienced Sfaxien. Sfaxien secured the victory with seven minutes remaining via a fine effort from Chadi Hammami, who arrowed a right-footed shot into the top corner from the edge of the area. Ibrahima Toure appeared to have fouled Petrojet's Mahmoud Samna in the build-up before sending in a low cross that was cleared by Mohamed Koffi into the path of Hammami, who beat keeper Ahmed Fawzi with a firm shot. The referee further infuriated Petrojet players and coach Mokhtar Mokhtar when he ruled that Fawzi crossed the 18-yard box, while launching a huge ball upfield, awarding a handball for the hosts. TV replays showed that the official's decision was incorrect. However, Petrojet did little to boost their chances of reaching the fourth round and edging closer to a place in the group stage. Petrojet were playing in an African competition for the first time in their history, after finishing third in the Egyptian Premier League last season. They are favourites to finish in the same position this term as they have a three-point lead over fourth-placed Ismaili with two matches remaining.
