Zamalek romped to a thumping 7-0 victory over Chadian champions Gazelle in the first leg of the CAF Champions League preliminary round. Ahmed Gaafar, Mohamed Ibrahim and Abdoulaye Cisse bagged a brace apiece as Ahmed Hassan came off the bench to grab a goal. Zamalek broke their record for the highest-continental victory, surpassing their 6-0 drubbing of APR Rwanda in 2002. The Whites welcomed back their fans after authorities allowed a limited number of 5000 supporters to attend the continental game at Alexandria's Army Stadium. The second leg takes place in a fortnight as Zamalek are set to face the winner of the match between Vita Club of DR Congo and Togo's Dynamic. Ibrahim dazzles Zamalek were expectedly in charge and took the lead when an Ahmed Eid effort was half-saved by the keeper as Gaafar hit on the rebound after just 15 minutes. Gaafar then turned from scorer to provider when he superbly threaded a defense-splitting pass to Ibrahim who fired home 12 minutes. But Gaafar refused to see his team enter the dressing room without completing his double as he notched home with another tap-in after Omar Gaber's shot was blocked. Zamalek manager Jorvan Vieira introduced Burkina Faso's Cisse and Hassan instead of Eid and left-back Sabri Rahil as both substitutions paid dividends late in the second half. Cisse claimed a dubious 74th minute goal when his header was adjudged to have crossed the line after hitting the keeper's hands. The fit-again Hassan then justified Vieira's decision to introduce him when he notched Ibrahim's cross from close range to make it five on 81 minutes. But the best goal of the night came when Ibrahim dispatched a tremendous strike from range. Cisse then completed the rout when he brilliantly evaded a challenger before sending a low long-range drive to ensure Zamalek's qualification to the next round.
