JOHANNESBURG: Homeless Sudanese club Al Hilal shocked Tunisian giants Esperance 3-1 on Friday in a CAF Champions League second-round Group C match in Tanzania.
After Yassine Meriah conceded an eighth-minute own goal, captain Mohamed Abdelrahman converted a 15th-minute penalty to give the Omdurman outfit a two-goal half-time lead.
Gambian Kebba Sowe halved the deficit in the Indian Ocean port city of Dar es Salaam on 59 minutes before Senegalese Pape N’Diaye restored the two-goal advantage 12 minutes from time.
Hilal cannot play at home because of the armed conflict in Sudan.
After playing a qualifier in Morocco, Hilal moved to Tanzania for the group phase, and their first match there delivered an unexpected success over four-time African champions Esperance.
Hilal are making a record 37th appearance in the premier African club competition and the closest they have come to lifting the trophy was finishing runners-up twice in the 1980s.
Hilal lost to Petro Luanda in Angola last weekend while Esperance won a Tunisian derby against Etoile Sahel, the only club to win all five current and past CAF competitions.
Etoile host Petro on Saturday near Tunis and should they win all four teams in the mini-league will have three points.
A Group D match also produced an upset as Medeama snatched a 2-1 victory in Ghana over Algerian visitors Chabab Belouizdad, quarter-finalists in the past three editions.
Mamudu Kamaradin scored in the fourth minute of added time in Kumasi for the home team, who came from behind to win.
Abdelraouf Benguit netted from a 39th-minute penalty and Daniel Lomotey equalized in the final minute of the opening half.
Success for Medeama came six days after a heavy loss at title-holders Al Ahly of Egypt while Belouizdad were comfortable first-round winners over Young Africans of Tanzania.
Medeama are Champions League debutants who surprised Remo Stars of Nigeria and Horoya of Guinea in qualifiers.
The other six second round matches are scheduled for Saturday, including Young Africans against Ahly.
Homeless Hilal shock Esperance in CAF Champions League
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Homeless Hilal shock Esperance in CAF Champions League
- Hilal cannot play at home because of the armed conflict in Sudan
- After playing a qualifier in Morocco, Hilal moved to Tanzania for the group phase
Al-Hilal win to cut Al-Nassr’s lead at the top to two points
- Reigning champions Al- Ittihad beat Neom 3-1 to end the year on a high after difficult title defence
- Leaders dropped their first points of the season on Tuesday after a 2-2 draw against Ettifaq
RIYADH: Al-Hilal have closed the gap on leaders Al-Nassr lead at the top of the Saudi Pro League table to two points after beating Al-Khollod 3-1 on New Year’s Eve.
The win saw Al-Hilal leapfrog Al-Taawoun into second place they now have 29 points from 11 matches, just two behind Al-Nassr, who on Tuesday dropped their first points of the season after a 2-2 draw with Ettifaq.
Al-Hilal took the lead through Sergei Milinkovic-Savic after 45 minutes there was still enough stoppage time for Ramiro Enrique to equalize form the penalty spot. Two second half goals from Theo Hernandez secured a vital three points for Al-Hila.
Earlier in the day reigning SPL champions Al-Itttihad beat hosts Neom 3-1 to go fifth in the table and end the year on n relative high after a difficult defence of their title so far in this campaign.
Roger Fernandes opened the scoring on 14 minutes from Steven Bergwijn’s assist, but Said Benrahma equalized 13 minutes later for teams to go into the break on equal terms.
Second half goals by Bergwijn and Ahmed Al-Ghamdi secured a morale-boosting win for Al-Ittihad.
In Wednesday’s other match, Al-Qadsiah beat hosts Al-Shabab 3-2 to stay fifth in the table.
