JOHANNESBURG: Egyptian superstar Mohamed Abou-Trika scored in stoppage time to give mighty Al-Ahly of Egypt a dramatic 2-1 triumph over luckless Dynamos of Zimbabwe in the African Champions League Sunday.
Midfielder Abou-Trika, scorer of the only goal when Egypt defeated Cameroon in the 2008 African Nations Cup final, has been battling injury and only came on in the second half as a substitute for fellow international Emad Meteb.
And after being denied a 90th-minute winner because he fouled goalkeeper Willard Manyatela before heading the ball into the net, he made no mistake four minutes later at a sparsely populated Cairo Stadium.
Dynamos failed to clear a cross and Angola World Cup striker Flavio Amado stabbed the ball into the path of Abou-Trika who gave Manyatela no chance with a snap close-range drive.
Amado had put the five-time African champions ahead with just four minutes gone and patient and impressive Dynamos levelled on 80 minutes through a flying header from substitute Lazarus Muhoni.
It was Dynamos’ second visit to Cairo this month and their second loss having fallen 1-0 to Zamalek, but two brave displays proved their shock elimination of title holders Etoile Sahel of Tunisia last May was no fluke.
The Zimbabweans, back in the premier African club competition after an eight-year absence, spurned two early scoring chances and a Muhoni shot rebounded off a post in the second half.
Victory lifted perennial Champions League favorites Ahly to seven points in Group A followed by Zamalek (four), Dynamos (three) and ASEC Mimosas of Ivory Coast (two) halfway through the six-round mini-league schedule.
ASEC, one of five former title holders among the eight contenders for the one-million-dollar first prize, survived the early dismissal of midfielder Yao Kouassi to force a 0-0 draw with Zamalek in Cairo Saturday.
Kouassi was shown red just 18 minutes after the kick-off for a second caution after fouling Gamal Hamza but Zamalek, another five-time winner of the annual competition, could not take advantage of the numerical superiority.
Defender Mahmoud Fathallah twice and strikers Mostafa Gaafar and Ali Abdel-Halim came closing to breaking the deadlock amid growing frustration from the near-capacity crowd at the Military Academy Stadium.
Enyimba of Nigeria replaced Al-Hilal of Sudan as leaders of Group B after scoring twice in the second half to overcome Tout Puissant Mazembe of the Democratic Republic of Congo 2-0 in the south east town of Aba Sunday.
Ezenwa Otorogu broke the deadlock after 70 minutes of a clash between clubs who have won the Champions League twice each and Stephen Worgu claimed his 12th goal of the campaign to put the result beyond doubt.
Hilal outplayed Cotonsport Garoua of Cameroon in the first half at Omdurman and deservedly led at half-time thanks to Kelechi Osunwa, but the central Africans threatened on the break and a Baba Ousmaila goal secured a 1-1 draw.
Enyimba, who with Ahly and Mazembe are the only clubs to successfully defend the Champions League title since its inception 43 years ago, have six points, Hilal five, Cotonsport four and Mazembe one. -AFP
