CAIRO — Striker Nasser Mansy completed his hat-trick with the added-time winner as Egyptian giants Zamalek shaded Al-Merrikh of Sudan 4-3 in a dramatic CAF Champions League dead rubber.
The seven-goal thriller in Cairo looked to be headed for a draw until Mansy ensured the White Knights clinched all the three points at home to move to seven points at third place of Group D, two ahead of the Sudanese side.
But only the top two finishers’ advance to the quarter-finals.
In an extraordinary duel, the two sides having nothing to lose as qualification was already out of their hands, Zamalek led 2-0 after only two minutes and 51 seconds. But, the Sudanese rallied to draw level at 2-2 then go ahead, before Zamalek scraped back.
Winger Moustafa Shalaby scored after just 11 seconds on the clock, the quickest goal in the CAF Champions League this season, before forward Mansy doubled the tally after two minutes and 51 seconds.
However, Merreikh pulled one back in the seventh minute through skipper Ramadhan Agab, before they completed the comeback three minutes after the break through Hussein Algozoli.
Paulo Sergio took the Sudanese into the lead in the 56th minute, but Zamalek labored to get back into contention with Mansy equalizing after 64 minutes before scoring the winner at the death.
Straight from kick-off, Zamalek scored the opener when Shalaby swept the ball home after being set through by Ahmed Belhadji.
The latter created the second goal less than two and a half minutes later, setting up Mansy who finished with a smooth low shot.
But Merreikh fought back and in the seventh minute they halved the deficit when skipper Agab chested the ball home from close range off a Bakhit Khamis cross from the left.
Zamalek had some chances to extend the score, but it remained the same at the break.
Three minutes after the restart, Merreikh was levelled when Algozoli struck a well weighted shot before Sergio scored their third and took them into the lead with a brilliant header from skipper Agab’s cross.
But Zamalek were not about to take this lying down as they went level in the 64th minute through Mansy’s bouncing header.
They kept pressing for a winner and were rewarded at the death when the forward struck a shot from the edge of the area.
Raja completes group phase with a win
Hamza Khabba scored a goal in either half as Raja Club Athletic completed the group phase with an emphatic 3-1 win over Tanzania’s Simba in Casablanca.
The victory took the Moroccan giants to 16 points on top of Group C, seven ahead of Simba, who had also qualified for the quarter finals.
Raja had a near perfect outing in the group with five wins and a draw.
Their only blemish was last weekend’s 1-1 draw away to bottom side Vipers SC.
Just as they have always done at home, Raja was dominant at home but they had to wait till the 44th minute to break the deadlock when Khabba beat Joash Onyango to the ball before rifling past the keeper.
But, the home side were not about to drop three points and they battled to get back into the lead. They did so in the 70th minute when Khabba completed his brace from the penalty spot after he had been brought down inside the box by Onyango.
They completed the job four minutes to time when Mohamed Boulacsou ran behind the defense to pick up a pass from Abdelraouf Benguit before firing past the keeper on the volley.
Simba’s attempts to put some respect to the scoreline wasn’t as successful as Raja saw out the 3-1 victory, completing a home and away sweep of the Tanzanians.
Horoya hits Vipers 2-0
In another dead rubber, Guinean champions Horoya of Guinea put a seven-goal drubbing by Simba of Tanzania in their previous Group C match behind them to defeat Vipers of Uganda 2-0 in Bamako.
The match was staged in the Malian capital because Horoya do not have an international-standard stadium.
The victory took the Guinean side to seven points, five ahead of Vipers who finished the group stages without a single victory and only one goal scored.
Goals in each half from Yakhouba Barry and Sory Traore handed the Guineans maximum points to sign off from the group stages with victory.
Barry broke the deadlock early on in the 19th minute with a backheel swing after Vipers keeper Jack Komakech who was handed his Champions League debut fumbled in an attempt to pick a cross from the right.
Vipers attempted to get themselves back into contention and the closest they came was via a Martin Kizza shot that came rattling under the base of the upright.
In the second half, the chances were few and far in between, but Horoya had the last word in the second minute of added time when Traore finished off a brilliant team move by Vipers, tapping home from close range off an Alseny Soumah cross.
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