OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Monday 11.00am.
HOLDERS ASEC of Cote d’Ivoire scored two late goals to crush Al-Harrach of Algeria 4-0 in an African Champions League second-round, first-leg clash in Abidjan on Sunday.
The youthful Ivorian team went ahead midway through the first half through Venance Zeze and Aruna Dindane added a second after 69 minutes before a capacity 45000 crowd.
Dindane struck again with two minutes left and Abdoulaye Djire completed a miserable afternoon for the Algerians three minutes into injury time at the Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium.
Former African champions Asante Kotoko of Ghana scraped a 1-0 home victory over debutants Al-Masry of Egypt in a high-profile Cup Winners Cup clash thanks to a 25th-minute goal from Prince Poku.
Club Africain completed a successful weekend for Tunisian clubs with a 4-0 triumph over Dynamos Douala of Cameroon. Mihay Toth, Nabil Kouki, Jamel Limam and Rezki Amrouche were the scorers.
Powerful CAF Cup contenders Zamalek of Egypt forced a 0-0 draw with Stade Tamponnaise on the Indian Ocean island of Reunion while USMA of Algeria seem set for the quarter-finals following a 2-0 win over Al-Ahly in Sudan.
Hearts of Oak from Ghana, who came close to reaching the final last year, were equally impressive as they beat Villa of Uganda 3-0 in Accra through goals from Joe Fameyeh, Osei Kuffour and Jacob Nettey. Kaloum of Guinea upset 1984 and 1996 runners-up Shooting Stars of Nigeria 3-0 in a delayed first-round clash in the town of Labe with Momo Wandel (2) and Mamadouba Bangoura on target.
Raja Casablanca of Morocco were another fancied club to meet unexpectedly strong opposition and had to come from behind to win pipping Djoliba of Mali 2-1 in North Africa. Moussa Traore put the visitors ahead after 38 minutes, Mebarki Bouchaib levelled on the stroke of half-time and Ougini Zitouni gave the small crowd something to cheer with an early second-half winner.–AFP