...Hearts fail to reach money zone
Accra Hearts of Oak have failed for the third consecutive time to reach the money zone of the African Champions League when they beat AS Aviacao of Angola 2-0 in the second leg of their 1/8 stage confrontation at the Accra Sports Stadium on Sunday. Kotoko beat Mount Cameroun 3-2 to go through 5-4 on aggregate in the Cup winners cup.
The Hearts victory could not cancel the 3-0 defeat Hearts suffered in Angola a fortnight ago.
Hearts scored the first goal on 45 minutes when skipper Joe Ansah powered a left footed volley that sailed through a cluster of legs and past Shumi Latuta in goal for Aviacao from about 25 yards.
Hearts had a good opportunity in the first minute to pull a goal back from the first encounter but Bernard Dong Bortey chickened out of a fifty-fifty race for the ball and allowed the Angolan goalkeeper, Shumi Latuta to make a save.
On six minutes, Masssawudu Mumuni lost another golden chance when he was set up by Wisdom Abbey who had done a good run on the right flank. Mumuni scooped the ball with his left foot narrowly off the mark when Latuta was nowhere near his line.
The Ghanaian champions had their first corner kick in the eighth minute but it was to no avail as the tall Angolans cleared the ball out of danger.
Four minutes later, Wisdom Abbey shot straight at the Angolan keeper after Bortey had sent a useful ball from the right. Laryea Kingston threw the entire Angolan defence out of position when he sidestepped the ball, leaving Abbey with the chance.
The visitors had their first corner kick in the 19th minute but their delivery was very woeful and Hearts cleared easily from their half.
he Hearts team appeared all nerves as they failed to string their passes together and allowed the Angolans, who to say the least, were very ordinary to cut their passes and clear hastily to make the encounter rather drab.
Laryea forced the second save from the Angolan keeper on 29 minutes and three minutes after that, Emmanuel Osei Kofour lost in combat in a one on one tussle with a defender when he had the goal on sight.
In the second half, Hearts missed another fine chance when Mumuni ghosted past two Angolan defenders but his final ball went straight to the goalkeeper.
The scale tilted greatly in favour of the Ghanaian champions when Simato Ben Dinha got a red card for striking Laryea Kingston in the face but Hearts made heavy weather of the advantage as they missed chance after chance.
Awudu Adama took over from Mumuni and Edmund Copson replaced Wisdom Abbey but the Hearts attack failed to glitter until the 71st minute when Copson scored the second with a half volley after an excellent run by Kuffour down the left.
It was all Hearts thereafter as they surged forward looking for the leveller but try as they did, they could not get the third, which would have thrown the game into a penalty shootout.
Even the introduction of Adjah Tetteh for injured Laryea Kingston could not change the fortune of the club.
There was a mild drama at half time as a man believed to be the juju man of Hearts confronted an Angolan player who was sprinkling water in one of the goal posts. The man who had himse sprinkled some water across the field before kick off attempted retrieving the water container from the player who resisted toughly.
The intervention of some police officers and officials of Hearts prevented the confrontation from degenerating into any ugly incident.
Kotoko beat Mount Cameroun 3-2
Full time scores at the second leg African Cup Winners Cup match played between Kumasi Asante Kotoko and Mount Cameroun in Kumasi was:Kotoko 3 (Three) Mount Cameroun 2 (Two)
There was a big roar in Kumasi after the Hearts game as Kotoko fans celebrated the exit of their arch enemies from the African champions league. At that stage, there was no indication they themselves were going through to the last eight.
Kotoko had twice taken the lead but they had twice let it slip by before Isaac Boakye came to their rescue yet again with a last minute penalty goal.
Nana Arhin Duah had scored first for Kotoko but the Cameroonians were back on level terms almost immediately afterwards. Boakye gave Kotoko the lead, his fourth goal in three matches since returning from justifies in Germany but the Cameroonians won?t lie low.
They equalized but as the entire stadium kept wait for the lottery of penalty shootout, Boakye kept his nerve to blast the ball in from the spot after a Cameroonian defender had handled a goal bound shot from Frank Osei on the line.
Kotoko coach Abdul Razak admitted it had been a nerve wrecking match but paid tribute to his players for showing the nerves to battle though when it mattered most.
Kotoko are now through to the quarter finals which means they stay on course for at least a repeat of last year?s final appearance. For Hearts elimination by Aciancao means they won?t play in the league stage of the African champions league for the third straight year.
It also means the Phobians miss out on the opportunity to share in the 3.5million dollar prize money at stake in the lucrative premier African cup competition.
Zamalek knocked out
Defending champions Zamalek are out of the Champions league. In one of the biggest competition upsets in recent history, the Egyptians lost 2-5 in Cairo to Simba of Tanzania on Sunday. Simba held a 1-0 lead from the first leg in Dar-es-Salaam and kept their opponents at bay until the 70th minute, when Zamalek's Abdelhalim Ali evened the aggregate score.
But Zamalek, playing their last match under Brazilian coach Carlos Alberto Capral, could not grab a second, forcing the match to penalties.
Simba converted three of their penalties, while Zamalek scored twice.
The shock defeat put a dampener on what was supposed to be a celebratory night for Zamalek.
Fresh from winning the Egyptian league, they cancelled a post-match ceremony where they supposed to receive the trophy.
Group regulars Esperance of Tunisia were 7-1 aggregate winners over Highlanders of Zimbabwe, after Sunday's 6-0 win in Tunis.
Cameroon's Canon Yaounde came from a goal down to beat FC St Eloi Lupopo of DR Congo 3-1 in Yaound? on Sunday, while a strike from Adama Soro Saina gave Asec Abidjan a qualification ticket, beating Moroccan champions Hassania Agadir 1-0 on aggregate.
The group stage offers the eight qualifiers a share of $3.5 million in marketing and television revenue.
In the Cup Winner's Cup, holders Wydad Casablanca beat Al Hilal of Libya 4-0 to reach the quarter-finals. The Moroccans won 6-2 on aggregate.
Army club APR FC became the first Rwandan club to reach the quarter-finals of a continental club competition with a 5-1 aggregate win over Etoile du Congo.
They beat the Congolese 2-1 in Brazzaville.
The draw for the group phase of the Champions League, quarter-finals of the Cup Winners' Cup and Caf Cup will be made in Cairo on 10 July.
