Jeanne d’Arc of Senegal scored twice within three minutes to beat Esperance of Tunisia 2-1 in Dakar on Sunday to clinch an African Champions League semifinal place.
Zied Triki converted a 31st-minute penalty to give the severely depleted North Africans a lead they did not deserve after the West Africans had spurned numerous scoring chances in scorching conditions.
But the match took a dramatic twist late in the second half when Raymond Mendy levelled after 77 minutes with his first goal of the annual competition and Lamine Diarra struck the winner as supporters were still celebrating the equaliser.
Esperance, who rested many key players ahead of the semifinals at the end of this month, topped group B with 12 points from four victories, including a 5-0 roasting of Jeanne d’Arc in Tunisia.
The Senegalese accumulated 11 points to reach the penultimate phase for only the second time, while 2003 semi-finalists Usma of Algeria with seven and Champions League debutants Supersport United of South Africa with four were eliminated.
Usma had to beat Supersport to have any chance of overtaking Jeanne d’Arc on the standings, but gave a sluggish performance and lost 2-0 to late goals from substitute Tsweu Mokoro and Sibusiso Mahlangu.
Jeanne d’Arc face Etoile Sahel of Tunisia in the two-leg semifinals and defending champions Enyimba of Nigeria confront Esperance, who lifted the cup 10 years ago.
Etoile came first in group A despite losing 3-2 at Africa Sports of Côte d’Ivoire on Saturday while Enyimba clung to second spot after forcing a 1-1 draw in Malawi against surprise packets Bakili Bullets.
Jeanne d’Arc could have been four goals ahead before Triki sent goalkeeper Pape Diouf the wrong way to give the legendary ”Blood and Gold” a lead they held until a late collapse.
Mendy struck when goalkeeper Hamdi Kasraoui parried a shot into his path and Diarra took advantage of two deflections to turn sharply and drill the ball into the far corner.
It took Usma 42 minutes to threaten Supersport before a small crowd at Caledonian Stadium as debutant goalkeeper Wayne Sandilands tipped over a close-range Issad Bourahli shot.
The Algerians almost snatched the lead from the resultant corner as Supersport striker Abram Raselemane headed against his crossbar in a bid to clear a swerving cross.
Little was seen of Malian Mamadou Diallo, the leading Champions League scorer with 10 goals, and even experienced midfielder Bilel Dziri could not raise the spirits of his lethargic teammates on a poor pitch.
Mokoro broke the deadlock after 77 minutes, taking advantage of a square defence to pounce on a Mahlangu through ball and beating Merouane Abdouni with a snap shot into the far corner.
National Olympic team goalkeeper Abdouni must shoulder most of the blame for the second goal four minutes from full-time as he stood motionless while a timid, low shot from Mahlangu entered the net.
The Champions League winners receive $1-million, the runners-up $700 000 and the semifinalists $450 000 each, with the odds on an all-Tunisia decider between Etoile and Esperance. — Sapa-AFP