Etoile du Sahel beat Al Hilal Omdurman 2-1 in the CAF Confederation Cup quarter-final second-leg match at the Egyptian Army Stadium on Tuesday night.

As a result, the Tunisian side set-up a semi-final tie with Egyptian giants Zamalek after winning the tie 5-2 on aggregate, while Sudanese champions Al Hilal crashed out of the tournament.

It took Al Hilal 30 minutes to break the deadlock through their promising forward Waleed Bakhet Hamid.

The 20-year-old player beat Etoile goalkeeper Walid Kridane to make it 1-0 to Al Hilal as the hosts scored their second goal in the tie.

Etoile were then awarded a penalty, but Al Hilal keeper Jamal Salim denied Yassine Chikhaoui from the spot-kick four minutes after the half-hour mark.

However, the Jewel Coast did not lose hope as they managed to level matters through Karim Aribi a few minutes before half-time.

The Algerian attacker beat Ugandan shot-stopper Salim to make it 1-1 heading into the half-time break.

Etoile suffered a blow as they were reduced to 10 players in first-half stoppage time when Aribi was sent off following an off the ball incident.

Mohamed Eldai was introduced by the hosts 12 minutes after the restart as they looked to take advantage of their numerical superiority over Etoile.

However, the Blue Wave were unable to beat Etoile’s substitute goalkeeper Makram Bediri which left the Al Hilal players frustrated.

Both teams launched attacks in the closing stages of the encounter and it was the Jewel Coast, who grabbed a late winning goal.

Wajdi Kechrida was the man, who beat Salim in the 80th minute to seal Etoile’s 2-1 victory over Al Hilal. 

Al Hilal (1) 1 (Hamid 30′)
Etoile (1) 2 (Aribi 36′, Kechrida 80′)

Etoile won 5-2 on aggregate

Al Hilal: Salim, El Tahir, Ibrahim, Ariwachukwu, Boya, El Edin Omer, Abdalla (Mohamed 75′), Diarra (Eldai 57′), Eldin Ali, Mbombo, Hamid (Eldin 67′).

Etoile: Kridane (Bediri 43′), Kechrida, Ben Aziza, Boughattas, Konaté, Baayou, Aouadhi, Msakni (Mathnani 79′), Hannachi (Raddaoui 85′), Aribi, Chikhaoui. 

Collins Okinyo

Ex- CAF Media Expert. An expert on African football with over 15 years experience ,always with an ear to the ground with indepth knowledge of the game. I have worked for top publications including 7 years at www.supersport.com until i founded www.soka25east.com to quench the thirst of football lovers across the continent. I have trained young upcoming journalists who are now a voice in African football.I have covered World Cup,AFCON,CHAN,Champions League,Confederations Cup,Cecafa,Cosafa,Wafu and many other football tournaments across the World. Founder Football Africa Arena(FAA),Founder www.afrisportdigital.com