Masry, a nine-man team, wins the CAF Cup in a thrilling final.
On Monday, Egyptian club Al Masry overcame two players sent red to win a thrilling 2-1 CAF Confederation Cup area-final first-leg tie against Moroccan visitors Renaissance Berkane.
After a match that began late on Sunday and ended far into the night, Haythem Layouni scored immediately from an open kick in the 82nd minute to give the home team a slender combination lead.
Masry took the lead for the second time in an event-packed match when Tunisian Layouni curled an extended-variety kick over a defensive wall and beyond goalkeeper Hamza Hamiani Akbi.
Amr Marey gave Masry an early lead by running onto a headed pass and controlling the bobbling ball from close range to smash into the goal.
Berkane, the champions of the 2020 Confederations Cup, equalised seven minutes later when Hamza Regragui knocked a low cross from Chadrack Lukombe, who was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo, over the line.
In the second half, Masry’s lack of discipline paid them dearly, as midfielders Amr Moussa and Tunisian Elyes Jlassi were sent off, forcing the hosts to play 25 minutes with nine men.
In each occasion, the referee first issued a yellow card, but after viewing videos of the occurrences on a touchline VAR monitor, he upgraded to a red card.
Both events occurred at the 87,000-seat Borg el Arab Stadium in Alexandria, Egypt. Berkane winger Youssef el Fahli was the victim in both attacks.
Moussa made a late, studs-up tackle, and Jlassi stamped on El Fahli’s right leg after the Moroccan had collapsed.
- Foils for woodwork Pyramids – Masry’s finest Confederation Cup performance came in 2018, when they advanced to the semi-finals before losing to V Club of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
In a 0-0 home draw against TP Mazembe from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Pyramids, the other Egyptian championship challengers in the African counterpart of the UEFA Europa League, were twice denied by the woodwork.
Mazembe, the five-time African champions, spent much of their tense match in Cairo defending, but they did have chances, most notably when Zemanga Soze pushed veteran goalkeeper Sherif Ekramy into a superb save.
Mazembe’s chances of winning the Confederation Cup have improved as a result of the draw. Mazembe has 11 CAF titles, including two in the Confederation Cup.
Mazembe has a spotless record in Lubumbashi this season, having not conceded in four previous home matches in the tournament, while Pyramids have lost three of their last five road games.
After a 0-0 draw in Tripoli between fierce rivals Al Ittihad and Al Ahly, the match was transferred to Benghazi since no venue in the capital city fulfils international standards.
Shomari Kapombe converted a 68th-minute penalty to give Simba of Tanzania a 1-0 triumph against the 2015 Confederation Cup runners-up Orlando Pirates of South Africa in Dar es Salaam on Sunday.
All four rematches are set to begin on Sunday, but two of them will conclude after dark since many North African players observe a dawn-to-nightfall cycle during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
The leg semi-finals and unmarried-suit final will take place in May at an unnamed site, with the victors taking home $1.25 million (1.1 mn euros).
