Five time African champions Zamalek made Kenya’s Tusker pay for not taking their chances as they emerged 0-1 winners in the two two team’s second preliminary round CAF Champions League first leg match played on Saturday afternoon at Nyayo National Stadium.The Brewers Head Coach Robert Matano opined that his charges gave Zamalek too much respect. “We could not even string two passes in the first half. We have experienced players who I feel could control the game but unfortunately we feared the opponents. It is like inferiorty complex – we did not have the courage to challenge Zamalek and that was our major undoing,” Matano said after the match, “We will now regroup and prepare for the second leg. Zamalek should not think they will have an easy time in the return match. We will fight until the end,” he added. Zamalek coach Patrice Carteron gave credit to Tusker despite picking a win in Nairobi. “They proved why they are Kenyan champions. They are very organised team especially defensively and they gave us some hard time. We did not prepare very well for this game but we will do better ahead of the return tie for sure.” He said. 🔚 It’s over. We get the win from 🇰🇪⚽️ Tusker FC 0️⃣ 🆚 1️⃣ Zamalek SC🏆 CAF Champions League🌍 Round of 3️⃣2️⃣#CAFCL#CHAMP13NS | #Zamalek | #MostTitledIn20C | pic.twitter.com/MtJEYidlAj— Zamalek SC English (@ZSCOfficial_EN) October 16, 2021 With a precious spot in the group stages at stake, Kenyan twelve time champions Tusker and Egyptian 13-time champions Zamalek sought to get an upper hand when the two teams locked horns.The Brewers came into the match having bundled out Djiboutian side AS Arta Solar 7 in the first round and were looking to build on the emphatic performance against the five time African champions who had gotten a bye into the second round.Touted to be a mouthwatering clash, the game tore all pre-written scripts as it got off to a sluggish start with both sides coy to overassert themselves, control being the motto in the opening proceedings.After nearly ten minutes of sizing each other up, it is Tusker who made the first half attempt of the game when Shami Kibwana had a sighter on goal with a fierce attempt nine minutes in. Although powerful, his shot on goal lacked the needed accuracy as it sailed wide over the bar without asking any questions of Abo Gabal in the Zamalek goal.With momenum in their favour, Robert Matano’s side took control of the game as they reduced Zamalek to mere passengers who sat back and tried hitting on the break with long balls behind the Tusker defensive line. However, alert defending from Hillary Wandera and Daniel Sakari on the fullback positions ensured Zamalek’s threat on the wings was well nullified momentarily.Three minutes to the half hour mark, the Brewers’ in form striker Ibrahim Joshua connected well with the cross but his flicked attempt just glanced across the face of goal as it rolled out without causing any trouble.With just second’s left before the one added extra minute in the first half elapsed, Zamalek almost made Tusker pay for their meaningless domineering possession when a nicely cut back ball into the penalty box beat every defender and found Achraf Bencharki all alone and in space. Surprisingly, the Moroccan foward who finished as the club’s top scorer in the 2020/2021 Egyptian Premier League terribly miscued his effort and prevented his side from taking a half time lead against the run of play.Upon second half’s resumption, it is the White Knights who came out guns blazing after a seemingly inspired half time team talk. Just a minute in, Emam Ashour almost gave them the lead after being located beautifully in the area with a pinpoint cutback by Bencharki who had caught the Tusker defending napping.Despite beating everyone with his one time shot, the midfielder was unlucky not to see his effort go in as it hit the upright only to bounce back into play before being mopped up by the defense.Just seconds after, the white jerseyed Zamalek players soon wheeled off in celebration as, man to watch, Bencharki finally made his contribution count when he beat the goalkeeper at the near post to give his side the lead on the 47th minute.FULL TIME AT THE NYAYO NATIONAL STADIUM.Tusker 0-1 Zamalek. (Bencharki).All to play for in Alexandria on Friday. #KenyaMilele #Brewers4Life— 🏆Tusker FC (@tusker_fc) October 16, 2021 That goal sparked the game into life as it forced Tusker to go foward in search of the equalizer.In the 54th minute, Zamalek thought they had the second goal of the game when Mahmoud Ahmdy rose highest to head in a well worked short corner but it was not to be as the linesman raised his flag for offside to rule out the goal.By going foward in search of an equalizer, a lot of spaces were left behind which Zamalek used to good effect with their pacy wingers. On the hour mark, Matano made a quartet of substitutions to try and effect the game but not even the introductions of Deogratius Ojok, Kevin Monyi, John Njuguna, Apollo Otieno in place of Daniel Sakari, Humphrey Mieno, Shami Kibwana and Jackson Macharia could make the difference.In the end, Zamalek held onto their slender advantage as they got a crucial away goal in the first leg.
