Zamalek 1 – 0 APR
Zamalek beat APR 1-0 in the second leg of the CAF Champions League second preliminary round, with Ahmed Sherif scoring in the first minute to send them into the group stage 2-0 on aggregate.
The only goal came almost straight from kick-off. Odai Dabbagh passed to Omar Gaber, whose cross found Sherif, and his low shot went between the APR goalkeeper's legs. Sherif nearly added a second in the 28th minute, but the goalkeeper saved his low effort.
Gaber was just as important at the other end. In the last minute of the first half, he stopped APR from scoring a goal that looked certain, and Zamalek kept their lead into the break.
Zamalek made two changes in the 71st minute, bringing on Adam Kaid and Hossam Ashraf for Abdallah El Said and Dabbagh. APR came closest to an equaliser in the 76th minute, when their free kick struck the crossbar, and Ashraf put a chance wide of the post in the 82nd minute. Mostafa El Zenary replaced Ahmed Abdel Rahim 'Isho' in the 87th minute, and Zamalek controlled the rest of the match.
The win followed a 1-0 victory in the first leg in Kigali, and it gives Zamalek a place in the CAF Champions League group stage.
Before kick-off
Zamalek defend a 1-0 lead against APR without the man who won the first leg
Zamalek look the stronger side with one side kept out and two goals or fewer in all.
Zamalek take a 1-0 lead into Saturday night's second leg, with a place in the CAF Champions League group stage at stake. The man who earned it will not play. Nasser Mansi, who scored in the 90th minute in Kigali, has been suspended by the club, for taking off his shirt and throwing it down after the goal according to some reports, and for his conduct towards the coaching staff according to Al-Ahram.
Moatamed Gamal is short elsewhere too. Mahmoud Bentayeg tore a hamstring in the derby, Mohamed Sobhy strained a thigh in training and four more are unavailable, while Ahmed Rabie, who broke his nose on 16 October, is a doubt. Al-Ahram writes that a transfer ban has left the squad thin.
Zamalek are third in the league after a 1-0 win at Asyut Petroleum on Tuesday, though goals have been scarce: three in their last five matches, two of them 1-0 wins.
APR arrive with their league season barely begun, four fixtures postponed, and a Moroccan coach, Abderrahim Taleb, who calls the tie even. They have reason to remember Cairo: in 2004 they lost 3-2 there, then beat Zamalek 4-1 in Kigali to go through. Zamalek have won every meeting since.
