Ibrahim Adel stepped off the bench to score a second half brace as Pyramids FC came from a goal down to beat Nigeria’s Enyimba 4-1 in the first leg of the Total CAF Confederation Cup quarter final in Cairo on Sunday.

Victor Mbaoma had given the visitors a first minute lead, but Pyramids, finalists in last season’s edition, bounced back with Ramadhan Sobhi and skipper Abdallah Said scoring before Adel’s brace sealed the vital first leg victory.

Mbaoma broke the deadlock very early on, taking advantage of a goalkeeping mess from Sheriff Ekramy. The shot stopper attempted to play some fancy footwork to evade Mbaoma, but the forward pinched the ball from under his feet and scored.

Pyramids however went back on level terms before halftime, and it was thanks to another blunder at the back, this time Enyimba defender Nelson Ogbonnaya with the mistake. Sobhi pounced in as the defender attempted to make a turn at the edge of the box before gliding past the keeper and tapping into an empty net.

In the second half, Pyramids stepped up and just four minutes in they had taken the lead when skipper Said planted the ball into the bottom left off a Sobhi lay off.

The home side should have been 3-1 up five minutes later, but Eric Traore saw his point blank effort saved by the keeper after connecting to a Mohamed Sharaf cross from the left.

But, they were stretching away in the 58th minute and did so in style with Adel’s brilliant goal. The substitute scored with a well taken overhead kick when he adjusted his body superbly to connect to an Ahmed Fathy cross from the right.

They sealed their victory in the 66th minute when Adel completed his brace after Sobhi played him through when the Enyimba defense struggled to clear a cross ball.

From then on, it was easy go for the Egyptians as they kept the possession, Enyimba struggling to gain the ball and make any meaningful foray of attack.

Soka25east.com