Club Desportivo 1 de Agosto shocked Esperance de Tunis 1-0 in Luanda as Al Ahly beat ES Setif 2-0 in Cairo in the African Champions League semifinals first leg Tuesday to inch closer to the finals.
Surprise package de Agosto of Angola edged out two-time champions Esperance of Tunis 1-0 to keep their fairy tale run in this campaign alive.
Congolese Luvumbu “Bua” Pedro was the toast of the evening for the army-backed-side, notching in the lone goal with just ten minutes to go for the slim but important win.
Prior to the goal, the game was generally lackluster with the visitors happy to just knock the ball around mostly in their own half as they attacked sparingly.
But having been rattled by the Luvumbu’s goal they swung into action in search of a leveler but it was a little too late to salvage anything.
Esperance finished the game one-man-less after skipper Khalil Chemmam was sent packing for a second bookable offense seconds before the final whistle.
Khalil will miss the second leg in Tunis in three weeks’ time.
In Cairo, Ahly comfortably beat ES Setif of Algeria 2-1 at Al-Salam Stadium to stay on course to wining elusive ninth title.
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The stadium remained virtually empty as fans boycotted the match in protest against the Confederation of African Football’s perceived mistreatment of their club.
But that could not dampen the spirits of the players, who worked hard for the deserved win.
Veteran midfielder Walid Soliman opened the scoring in the 23rd minute with a fine header before Islam Mohareb doubled the score with three minutes to the breather.
The second leg matches will take place after international break on 23 October with aggregate winners sailing through to the two-legged finals.
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