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Brave Rwandans stun Congolese in Champions League
JOHANNESBURG (AFP) - Rwandan army club APR have provided the shock of the first African Champions League qualifiers with a 2-1 triumph over Saint Eloi Lupopo in the Democratic Republic of Congo at the weekend.
The East and Central Africa champions achieved a notable success in Kinshasa despite having striker Abbas Rassou and coach Andia Mfutila sent off in a fiery first round, first leg clash.
Former Lupopo player Kabange Twite put APR ahead with a superb solo goal after 37 minutes only for Lupopo to equalise midway through the second half when the Rwandans failed to clear a free kick.
Although APR were reduced to 10 men with 15 minutes left when the Cameroon referee showed Rassou a red card, the visitors had the last laugh as Zambian Joseph Bwalya snatched an 85th-minute winner.
Away victories in the DR Congo capital are rare and APR look set to finish off Lupopo in Kigali next month and qualify for a second-round showdown against Diaraf of Senegal or Maranatha Fiokpo of Togo.
Experienced African campaigners Diaraf ended a five-match goal drought to edge Maranatha 1-0 in Dakar courtesy of a late first-half shot from Papa Thioune.
Mangasport of Gabon were another club to excel on foreign soil by beating Primeiro Agosto of Angola 1-0 in Luanda thanks to an early first-half goal from Patrick Lolo.
AS Douanes of Senegal exceeded expectations with a 2-1 win at Stade Malien of Mali in Bamako thanks to two goals from Jerome Dieme with the winner coming in first-half stoppage time.
AshantiGold of Ghana, returning to the Champions League 10 years after finishing runners-up to Raja Casablanca of Morocco in the first edition, impressed when overcoming Renacimiento of Equatorial Guinea 1-0 in Malabo.
The failure of Lamini Nasir to convert a penalty just after half-time was forgotten when a Jonathan Quartey volley stunned opponents who surprisingly reached the final qualifying round last year.
FC Kallon of Sierra Leone, owned by Monaco striker Mohamed Kallon, were another club to do better than expected as they forced a 0-0 draw at fellow newcomers Ocean Boys of Nigeria in Yenagoa.
The six former champions in action won although three-time holders Canon Yaounde of Cameroon, bolstered by the arrival of two Brazilian strikers, face an awkward return match in Congo after only edging Etoile 1-0 at home.
Esperance of Tunisia and Wydad Casablanca of Morocco were the most impressive victors, scoring four goals each without reply against Renaissance of Chad and Mauritel of Mauritania respectively.
Zamalek of Egypt, winners a record-equalling five times, did almost as well with a 4-1 win over Vital´O of Burundi in Cairo through goals from Amr Zaki, Hazem Emam, Tarek al-Sayed and Mostafa Gaafar.
A Mputu Mabi hat-trick powered 1967 and 1968 champions Tout Puissant Mazembe of DR Congo to a 3-0 win over Police of Botswana in Kinshasa and twice holders JS Kabylie of Algeria won 3-1 against Balantas of Guinea Bissau in Algiers.
The return matches are set for February 9-11.
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