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Stunning win for Hilal, El Kaabi bags Wydad hat-trick
JOHANNESBURG, Dec 29, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – A stunning victory for Al Hilal of
Sudan and an Ayoub el Kaabi hat-trick for Wydad Casablanca of Morocco were
the CAF Champions League matchday three highlights on Saturday.
Hilal won a group game in the elite African club competition for the first
time after 22 failed attempts from 2007 by shocking Etoile Sahel of Tunisia
1-0 in Rades.
Athar el Tahir scored the match-winner on 59 minutes by rifling a low shot
past Achraf Krir and into the corner of the net after a neat three-man build-
up.
The triumph lifted Hilal to first place in Group B, ahead of Al Ahly of
Egypt and Etoile on head-to-head records as the three contenders have six
points each.
With home fixtures to come against Etoile and Ahly, a Hilal team coached
by Egyptian Hamada Sedki can entertain realistic hopes of a top-two finish
and a quarter-finals place.
Based in Omdurman, a city on the western bank of the River Nile opposite
the Sudanese capital Khartoum, Hilal are trying for the 33rd time to win the
top African club prize.
They came closest in 1987 and 1992, losing two-leg finals against Ahly and
Wydad respectively 2-0 on aggregate.
Walid Soliman, the 35-year-old Ahly veteran, scored in each half to earn
the record eight-time African champions a 2-0 win over pointless Platinum of
Zimbabwe in Cairo.
– Electric atmosphere –
Meanwhile, China-based Moroccan El Kaabi ended a loan spell at Wydad with
a treble as Wydad finished 4-1 winners over Petro Luanda of Angola in an
electric Casablanca atmosphere.
Against a backdrop of singing, flag-waving supporters, Wydad were stung
midway through the second half when Brazilian Antonio ‘Tony’ Ribeiro
equalised.
But El Kaabi netted a second time to put Wydad ahead again on 79 minutes
and completed the scoring after Wilson Carmo conceded an own-goal. Despite
the convincing victory, two-time champions Wydad remained second in Group C,
two points behind leaders Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa.
USM Alger of Algeria have two points and Petro one and it is difficult to
imagine either club qualifying at the expense of 2016 champions Sundowns and
Wydad.
Sundowns punished woeful defending to win 1-0 away to USM in Blida with
captain Hlompho Kekana marking his 300th appearance for the club with the
59th-minute winner.
Mustapha Kheiraoui struck a back pass to captain and goalkeeper Mohamed
Zemmamouche far too weakly and 34-year-old Kekana darted forward to secure
possession and score.
In Group A, Zesco United of Zambia suffered a setback when held 1-1 in
Ndola by Zamalek of Egypt, who led thanks to Mostafa Mohamed for six minutes
before Quadri Kola levelled.
TP Mazembe of the Democratic Republic of Congo top the table with seven
points, Zamalek have four, and Zesco and Primeiro Agosto of Angola two each.
BSS/AFP/MSY/0820 hrs