Al Ahli Tripoli scored two late goals at the Martyrs of Benina Stadium in Benghazi on Sunday to beat Zambian side Zanaco 2-0 and condemn them to a third successive defeat in Group A of the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup.
The victory at home took Ahli to six points and their second win in a row, having beaten Tunisia’s CS Sfaxien 2-1 last weekend. They are now three points behind leaders Pyramids and three ahead of third placed Sfaxien.
Zanaco have lost all their three opening matches of the group and their hopes of progressing to the quarter finals are now slim.
In a cagy match that didn’t provide much of scoring spectacle, it was Ahli who threatened first with Mohamed El Fakih striking a freekick just wide from 25 yards out.
In the second half, the closest opportunity was once again for the home side, this time Saleh Al Taher being twice denied with his shots blocked by diving bodies inside the box.
Zanaco finally cracked and conceded two goals in four minutes.
The home side broke the deadlock in the 80th minute when Ahmed Kamal El Trbi bundled the ball home from a yard out after Wissam Bousnina headed a freekick into his direction.
They doubled their tally four minutes later when Mohamed El-Mounir literally walked the ball into the net after picking up a cross before sliding past the keeper and evading a tackle from a defender.
Zanaco couldn’t provide a response and Ahli saw off the result to keep their last eight dream alive.
And eslewhere in the group, Pyramids FC kept their TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup run perfect after picking up a 1-0 win over Tunisian side CS Sfaxien in Cairo on Sunday.
The 2019-20 losing finalists have so far picked successive wins, having beaten Al Ahli Tripoli 2-1 in their opening match of the group phase and defeated Zanaco of Zambia 2-0 last weekend.
[Cafonline]
