Former TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup champions came from behind to snatch a late victor in a closely contested Egyptian derby

Former TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup champions Zamalek SC came from behind to snatch a late victory from Future FC in the Quarterfinals of the competition, which were played at the Al Salam Stadium on Sunday evening.

Ahmed Sayed’s stellar performance saw him assist Hamza Mahlouthi before getting the all-important win that canceled Khaled Abdelhamid’s opener. The White Knights walked away 2-1 victors.

The former champions were all over their opponents, who did well to absorb the pressure throughout the tie.

Zamalek first showed probing signs. The evergreen Shikabala almost opened the scoring with a brilliant solo run in the 27th minute, but an alert Mahmoud Elrhim saved his strike.

The lead unexpectedly came for Future, who broke in transition after absorbing most pressure. The game concluded with Mohamed Salama laying off a perfect ball for Khaled Abdelhamid, who found the opener against his former club.

With just seconds to the break and Future looking at going into the break with the lead, the White Knights showed their pedigree as Hamza Mahlouthi headed home the equalizer from a delightful corner by Ahmed Sayed.

Returning from the back, the 2018/19 champions continued surging forward in search of the lead. They were almost rewarded early into the second half after Shikabala again eliminated numbers to set himself up for a long-distance strike, which was met by the safe hands of Elrhim.

The lead did eventually come in the dying minutes of the game after the troublesome Seifeddine Jaziri was brought down in the box for the referee to point to the spot kick, as Sayed capped off a five-star performance with a conversion that took his goal tally in the competition to four.

Meanwhile, Abu Salim SC held former champions RS Berkane of Morocco to a goalless draw in a simultaneous fixture played in Libya. While the result may be disappointing for the Libyan side, who gave it their all against the Moroccans, they will head to the return leg with their heads held high from the positive performance against the two-time champions.

TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup First-Leg Results:

Rivers United FC 1 – 0 USM Alger

Stade Malien 1 – 2 Dreams FC

Abu Salim SC 0 – 0 RS Berkane

Future FC 1 – 2 Zamalek SC

Sunday, 07 April | Second Leg Fixtures

16h00 GMT | Dreams FC v Stade Malien

19h00 GMT | Zamalek SC v Future FC

21h00 GMT | RS Berkane v Abu Salim SC

21h00 GMT | USM Alger v Rivers United