Reuters
JOHANNESBURG: Egypt s Al Ahly made a quiet start to their African Champions League defense with a goalless draw in Zimbabwe in their second round, first leg encounter on Sunday. They found the back of the net in their tie against Highlanders in Bulawayo but striker Flavio s effort was ruled out for a handball. Given a first-round bye, Al Ahly traveled to Zimbabwe with some trepidation given the absence of several key players and exasperated further after midfielder Mohamed Shawki picked up an injury on the eve of the game. The draw gives Al Ahly the advantage for the return leg in Cairo in a fortnight. Ivory Coast s ASEC Abidjan, also handed a bye to the second round, made a more emphatic start as new signing Laby Kassiaty Gildas scored the only goal of their first-leg tie away at FC Kallon in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Morocco s Royal Armed Forces, also allowed to skip a round, were beaten 2-0 at AshantiGold in Obuasi, Ghana on Sunday. Shaibu Yakubu scored a penalty early in the second half and Alex Asamoah got the second in stoppage time for AshantiGold. Elsewhere, Zamalek of Egypt went down 2-0 to Al Hilal in Sudan, while Nigeria s Nasarawa United and Young Africans of Tanzania recorded the most convincing wins of the weekend, both scoring 3-0 wins over their respective opponents. Nasarawa thumped Gambia s Ports Authority on Sunday while the Tanzanian side scored three goals in the last 13 minutes to set up a handy lead over Angola s Petro Atletico before the return leg. Former Angolan international Renato conceded an own goal before Abdi Kassim and Mrisho Ngassa added two more for the hosts in Dar es Salaam on Sunday. In Antananarivo, Tresor Mputu scored his sixth goal of this year s tournament with the first effort in a 2-2 draw for his club TP Mazembe Englebert at AS Adema of Madagascar in Antananarivo. The Democratic Republic of Congo champions twice let their lead slip but have two away goals for the return match in Kinshasa. Mputu scored five goals in the two first-round ties for TP Mazembe Englebert against Botswana s Police XI. Sunday s tie between Al Ittihad of Libya and the AS FNIS of Niger was postponed until Monday because the match officials did not arrive in time, officials said.
