CAIRO: Two goals from Amr Zaki and Mohamed Aboul-Ella in the first half earned Zamalek an easy 2-0 home win over Africa Sports in the first-leg of the CAF Champions League round of 32.
The Cairo giants will have a relatively easy task to go through when they face the Ivorian team away from home on April 6.
Africa Sports surprisingly pressed forward in the first 10 minutes and could have opened the scoring on a couple of occasions.
Zamalek had to thank goalkeeper Mohamed Abdel Monsef for denying the visitors a shocking lead when he blocked a close-range header from Djedje Landry after seven minutes.
Abdel Monsef once again came to Zamalek s rescue five minutes later.
Striker Oussou Konan sidestepped Amr Al-Safti inside the area and went clear on goal but his effort was denied by the impressive Abdel Monsef.
Zamalek dominated afterwards and found their rhythm. They created several half-chances before breaking the deadlock in the 29th minute.
A deft through pass from Gamal Hamza released the in-form Zaki, who went one-on-one with the keeper before sending a low shot into the bottom corner of the net.
Midfielder Mohamed Ibrahim had to leave the pitch six minutes before the interval due to apparent breathing problems. Coach Ruud Krol replaced him with Ahmed Abdel Raouf.
Zamalek went two up four minutes later through Aboul-Ella, who managed to get his name on the scoresheet despite failing to impress.
Zaki met Hamza s free-kick with a powerful header that cannoned off the bar. The ball went into the path of Aboul-Ella, who had the easiest of tap-ins.
Africa Sports midfielder Thierry Zahui saw his fierce drive strike the crossbar one minute after restart. It was the Ivorians only threat in the second half.
The visitors pushed forward with the aim of narrowing the deficit, but they only managed to leave their backline open.
Hamza and left-back Tarek Al-Sayed had a couple of decent shots parried by Africa Sports keeper.
Substitute Hazem Emam squandered a glorious opportunity to add a third goal one minute from time.
He latched onto another neat pass from Hamza to go clear on goal but his poor efforts missed the target.
