Young Africans 1:1 Zamalek
Home draw puts Yanga in a corner
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Dar es Salaam. Coach
Kostadin Papic cut a distraught figure after Young Africans surrendered a 1-0 first half lead to settle for a one-all draw with Egypt’s Zamalek in the Africa Champions League first leg match yesterday.
The normally confident Serbian admitted that the result put his team in a precarious position ahead of the return leg in Cairo in two weeks’ time.
In Kigali, a second half goal by Ndayimishiye Yusuf salvaged a 1-1 draw for hosts Kiyovu against Simba in the Africa Confederation Cup first leg. At the National Stadium, Yanga, motivated by a Sh140million bonus for a win, seemed destined for a win until in the 74th minute when second half substitute Amr Hassan Zaki levelled matters for the Egypt team.
Zaki capitalised on a defensive mix-up to unleash a sizzling shot that gave goalie Shaaban Kado no chance, four or so minutes after coming in for Ahmed Abdelsamoa.
The results made the return leg in Cairo, Egypt in two weeks' time a virtual formality for the Jangwani Street outfit. It also revived unhappy memories for Kostadin Papic’s lads, who have always failed to shine whenever they are up against the Northern African teams.
Yanga, who have never eliminated an Egyptian team in any tournament, need a win of at least one clear goal in the return leg to make it into the next round.
After a bright start in the well-attended match at the 60,000-seater National Stadium, the hosts were surprisingly out of sorts in the second half. The game was only seconds old when Zamalek almost took a shock lead, with keeper Kado doing well to save Omoto Razak’s close range shot off Istam Ismael’s quick pass.
Seven minutes into the game, Hamis Kiiza crossed from the right for
Kenneth Asamoah, with only defender Alexis Mendomo’s toe diverting the goal-bound ball off the near post.
Another chance for Yanga to break the stalemate came in the 17th minute when Asamoah latched into a Stepahno Mwasika pass, but his poorly taken effort went wide.
Asamoah, who had a disappointing afternoon, fluffed another easy chance two minutes later when, with only keeper Sayed to beat, saw his shot miss target. In the 33rd minute, goalie Kado denied the six-time Africa Champions League champions what could have been the match-opener when he dived full length to parry off a sizzling shot by Istam Iasmel for an abortive corner.
The match-opener for the Yanga came five minutes to half time when the visitors’ keeper Sayed misjudged a long range shot by the hosts’ Ugandan striker Hamis Kiiza. The shot took a slight deflection off the post before sliding into the back of the net, leaving goalie Sayed flat footed.A goal for Simba in Kigali was netted by Mwinyi Kazimoto in the 43rd minute.
Line ups: Yanga-Shaaban Kado, Shadrack Nsajigwa, Stephano Mwasika/Oscar Joshua, Nadir Haroub, Athuman Idd, Juma Seif, Omega Seme, Haruna Niyonzima, Davies Mwape/Shamte Ali, Kenneth Asmoah and Hamis Kiiza.
Zamalek- Abdi el Sayed, Mahmoud Abdo, Hany Saad Ahmed, Alexis Mendomo, Nour Sayed Mohamed, Ahmed Othman, Sabry Abdelmonteb, Ibrahim Abdelfattaq, Istam Ismael/Mohamed Sayed, Omoto Yossi Razak and Ahmed Fathi Abdelsamoa/Amr Hassan Zaki.