Confed Cup: Leopards stun Coton Sport as Nkana beat Al Ahly
Last updated on .From the section Football
Congolese side AC Leopards left Coton Sport of Cameroon stunned in Saturday's African Confederation Cup fixture, winning their Group A match 4-0 in Garoua.
A second-half hat-trick from Kader Bidimbou and a Cesaire Gandze (pictured) strike gave Leopards the victory which helps them close the gap on leaders Coton Sport to just two points with one round of group matches remaining.
Bottom-of-the-table Ivorians Asec Mimosas failed to make home advantage count over Malians Real Bamako on Sunday as the two clubs played out a 0-0 draw.
Each side needed maximum points to have a realistic chance of overtaking second-place Leopards.
Elsewhere, Egyptian giants Al Ahly missed out on the chance to secure their place in the Confederation Cup semi-finals.
The Cairo 'Red Devils' lost 1-0 away to Zambians Nkana on Saturday.
The win for Nkana was sealed by a second half penalty from veteran Billy Mwanza to keep their hopes of progressing alive.
A draw in the Group B clash in the central city Kitwe would have been enough to clinch a last-four place for Ahly, winners of a record 18 African titles.
It was sweet revenge for the Zambian club after Ahly triumphed 2-0 at home against Nkana in May through goals from Amr Gamal and Mohamed 'Gedo' Nagy.
Gedo sprang to international prominence by repeatedly coming off the bench to claim five goals and finish as the leading scorer in the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, won by Egypt.
But he was seriously injured in the match away to Tunisians Etoile du Sahel and did not travel to Zambia.
His absence partly explains the paucity of goals with Ahly managing only five goals in five games and relying heavily on a tight defence to keep them top of the table.
Ahly have eight points from five matches, Nkana now have seven in the second-tier African club competition which offers a $660,000 first prize.
Ivorians Sewe San Pedro have also closed the gap on the leaders. They now have six points after a shock 1-0 win away to former African champions Etoile du Sahel on Saturday night.
Baudelaire Essis Aka scored the only goal for the visitors in Sousse.
The result leaves Tunisians Etoile bottom of Group B on five points with one more round of group matches remaining.
