ZESCO United have suffered a second straight defeat in the CAF Confederation Cup group stage following a 3-2 loss at home to Egyptian side Al Masry.
After losing to Zamalek SC 1-0 on Match Day one, ZESCO United were looking to get a win at home and put their campaign back on track.
But Al Masry took the lead 3 minutes in, Mohamed Hashem with the opener. The hosts responded almost immediately with Freddy Michael leveling matters after using his pace well to get in the end on a long searching ball from Kabaso Chongo to slot home with ease.
Mounder Temine put the visitors back in the lead after benefiting from a defensive error, Fils Gantar failed to control Benedict Chepeshi’s back pass, And Temine pounced and beat goalkeeper Philip Sakauta with ease.
The visitors went to the break with a narrow 2-1 lead. 22 minutes into the second stanza, Abderrarhim Deghmum extended the lead after going past the ZESCO United defense to score the Egyptian side’s third goal of the afternoon.
ZESCO United had a late surge and pushed for goals but we’re not clinical. Peter Musukuma reduced the deficit to just a goal four minutes to time after being on the end of a brilliant Pascal Phiri cross.
However it was a little too late as Al Masry held on to win the match 3-2. ZESCO United have now failed to win any of their last seven games in all competitions.
Zega Mambo remain bottom of the group with 0 points after two games played while Al Masry move to six points at the summit of the log table.
Prior to the match the club came under scrutiny following reports of Kelvin Mubanga Kampamba being sidelined allegedly after he asked about how much money the players were going to get in the group stage.
Mubanga, Chadian forward Amine Hiver who has been their star in the preliminary stage and former Power Dynamos striker Alex ‘Bazo’ Ng’onga were all absent from the match day squad further fueling the speculation surrounding a disagreement over group stage bonuses.
CAF Confederation Cup Match Day 2| Full Time
ZESCO United 2-3 Al Masry
(Freddy Michael 4’, Peter Musukuma 86’| Mohamed Hashem 3’, Mounder Temine 23’, Abderrarhim Deghmum 67’)
