African Champions League favourites Esperance of Tunisia and title holders Enyimba of Nigeria were in merciless moods this weekend.
Esperance overwhelmed Jeanne d’Arc of Senegal 5-0 and Enyimba went one better with a 6-0 drubbing of Bakili Bullets of Malawi in home games to consolidate their leadership of the two four-club groups.
The individual heroes were Tunisian striker Ali Zitouni, whose two goals followed another brace against SuperSport United of South Africa in the first series of mini-league matches two weeks ago, and Muri Ogunbiyi from Benin.
Ogunbiyi snatched two late goals to complete a dark day for Bullets, the first Malawian club to reach the pool phase of the annual $3,5-million competition.
In the opening match of the second round, Malian Mamadou Diallo scored four minutes into stoppage time to earn USMA of Algeria a 2-1 victory over visiting SuperSport.
The South Africans, who played more than half the match with 10 men after Tsweu Mokoro was sent off for fouling goalkeeper Farid Belmellat, blamed the heartbreaking loss on biased refereeing.
After being runners-up twice and semi-finalists twice in the previous five years, Esperance desperately want to repeat their 1994 success when the event was called the African Champions Cup and staged on a knockout basis.
Argentine coach Luis Fullone has the Midas touch, guiding Asec of Côte d’Ivoire to the 1998 Champions League title and repeating the feat with Raja Casablanca of Morocco the following year.
And with Zitouni recapturing his old form after a long injury layoff, it is difficult to imagine the ‘Blood and Gold’ failing to top Group B, leaving USMA, Jeanne d’Arc and SuperSport to fight for the other semi-finals spot.
Tunis-based Esperance brushed aside the disadvantage of having to fulfil a home fixture in the south-east town of Sfax because of a crowd trouble during the shock semi-final loss to Ismailia of Egypt last year.
Zitouni triggered the goal avalanche by scoring after 29 minutes and veteran midfielder Skander Souayah added a second two minutes later as the Senegalese collapsed under constant pressure.
Another Zitouni goal with 62 minutes gone put the result beyond doubt and recent signing Daoud Bouabdellah from Algeria and Jawhar Mnari scored in the closing stages.
Enyimba made their intentions known early in the south-east town of Aba with Ghana-born Joetex Frimpong getting the first goal after just four minutes and Ndidi Anumnu hit the second midway through the opening half of the Group A tie.
Onyekachi Okonkwo converted a penalty 60 seconds into the second half and Bullets’ misery was completed by a late goal spree with Ogunbiyi hitting two and substitute Chibuzor Ozurumba one.
Leading Champions League scorer Diallo raised his tally to eight with both goals against SuperSport, the first giving the Algiers club a 34th-minute lead which Abram Raselemane cancelled six minutes from the end of regular time.
South African coach Pitso Mosimane was furious that the Moroccan referee played seven minutes of stoppage time. However, the outcome would have been settled much earlier but for a series of superb saves by Calvin Marlin. – Sapa-AFP