Zamalek too strong for Pirates

Zamalek beat Orlando Pirates 4-1 to move to the top the Group B standings of the CAF Confederations Cup on Sunday night, at Stade Petro Sport Stadium, in Cairo, Egypt.

Goals by Hassan Mekky, Ahmed El-Shenawy, Mostafa Fathi and Salah Soliman were enough to hand the Egyptians the top spot in the group leaving the South Africans occupying the second spot.

The South African visitors took the game to the hosts, but the Egyptians were solid at the back so that there was no room to create scoring chances for Eric Tinkler’s men.

Both sides lost possession easily and it was the Soweto giants who showed early vulnerability in defence when they allowed the Egyptians to pounce first through Hassan in the 13th minute.

Both sides tried to move forward in search of goals, but it was the visitors who initiated an equaliser when Sifiso Myeni fed Thamasanqa Gabuza on the overlap.

The former Golden Arrows man delivered a great cross and found skipper Oupa Manyisa who finished with ease to make it 1-1.

Five minutes later, El-Shenawy rounded off a great move by the hosts and gave the Egyptians a 2-1 lead as the match approached half-time.

The hosts, cushioned by a 2-1 lead, started the second stanza on a high, searching for more goals, but Pirates’ goalkeeper Felipe Ovono denied them.

Just before making way for Kermit Erasmus, Gabuza struck an excellent attempt but it went wide of goalkeeper Mahmoud Abd Elrehim.

However, a few minutes after Gabuza’s substitute, Zamalek managed to find the back of the net through Fathi (3-1).

Late in the match Kahraba made it 4-1 to give the Egyptians a huge advantage over the Soweto giants as they settled for the top spot in Group B with 15 points.

The result meant that Tinkler’s men have now lost twice to Zamalek after their 2-1 loss at Mbombela Stadium in July.