Tunisian giants Esperance du Tunis were off to a flying start in the CAF Champions League group stages while Raja Club Athletic and Algeria’s ES Setif picked slim 1-0 wins on Saturday night.
In Rades, Esperance were off to a flier thrashing Botswana’s debutants Jwaneng Galaxy 4-0. Galaxy are making their first ever appearance in the group stages of the Champions League.
Mohamed Ben Romdhane struck a first half hattrick while Kingsley Eduwo added a fourth late on as the Tunisian giants stormed to the top of the group.
Ben Romdhane struck the opener very early on in the game with a brilliant volley from the edge of the box after being set up by Hamdou Elhouni.
He then made it 2-0 after 29 minutes with a ferocious left foot strike from the edge of the box after being set up by Sabir Bougrine.
He completed his hattrick in the 32nd minute with another neat finish, his combination with Elhouni providing a goal once again. Elhouni moved swiftly on the left before cutting back a cross that his mate swept into the net.
They had to wait till five minutes to the end to confirm their victory with a fourth goal, Eduwo’s deflected strike inside the box beating the keeper after being set up by Rached Arfaoui.
Meanwhile, Raja Club Athletic were made to sweat before beating Amazulu by a solitary goal in Casablanca.
Skipper Mohsine Moutaouali scored the lone goal of the match in the second half.
Action between Raja and AmaZulu
The captain scored in the 67th minute with the victory taking Raja top of the group with three points, same as Algeria’s ES Setif who had earlier on beaten Horoya by a similar margin in Conakry.
Raja dominated most of the games with the South Africans choosing to sit back and soak in the pressure.
The home side was denied by the woodwork in the 13th minute when Marouane Hadhoudi rose well inside the box to connect to a cross from the right but it came off the foot of the post.
In the 27th minute, Raja came close when Moutaouali sent Kadima Kabangu through on goal, but the Congolese’s shot was saved by the keeper for a corner.
The visitors had a golden opportunity at the stroke of halftime when Makhehleni Makaula picked the ball inside the box, but his shot came off the upright.
In the second half, Raja were faster off the blocks and they got into the lead in the 67th minute when Moutaouali scored with a shot through the keeper’s legs after a beautiful change of passes with Zakaria El Wardi.
Elsewhere, Ahmed Kendouci’s goal two minutes into the second half was all ES Setif needed to beat Guinean side Horoya AC 1-0 in Conakry.
The home side was generally dominant in the opening half and commanded 65pc of the possession, forcing Setif to play on the backfoot and defend deeper.
Goalkeeper Zakaria Bouhalfaya had to be on toes to keep his side in the game and twice came to the rescue plucking away efforts from Ocansey Mandela.
In Alexandria, defender Mahmoud Hamdi scored a last gasp 95th minute equalizer as Egyptian giants Zamalek SC rose from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Angolan side Petro Atletico.
Zamalek celebrate their late winner
Petro had gone into a 2-0 lead by halftime with goals from Gleison and Vidinho, but the White Knights fought back with Ibrahim ‘Obama’ Youssef halving the deficit just 10 minutes after coming on before Hamdi won a point at the death.
Petro’s Gleison broke the deadlock in the 22nd minute with a simple finish inside the box off Jaredi’s cutback from the left. The winger would then create the second in the 36th minute in similar fashion with Vidinho finishing.
In the second half, Zamalek made changes with Obama and Shikabala coming in for Maged Hany and Mohamed Ounajem. Achraf Bencharki almost scored but was denied by the woodwork when he struck the post with a low shot unmarked inside the box.
But, the combination of the two substitutes bore Zamalek’s first goal, the duo exchanging passes inside the box before Obama struck into the net.
Petro had a chance to restore their two goal cushion almost immediately when Jaredi broke the offside trap and ran one on one with Mohamed Abou Gabal, but the goalkeeper plucked away his attempted chip.
Pedro Pessoa also came close for Petro with a well curling freekick from the edge of the area but it went inches over.
Zamalek kept fighting and they got the goal in the fifth minute of added time when Hamdi’s deflected shot skipped into the net.
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