Haythem Ayouni scored a sensational 82nd minute freekick as nine-man Al Masry defied the odds to stun 2019-20 winners RS Berkane 2-1 in the first leg of their TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup quarter final tie at the Borg El Arab Stadium in Alexandria on Sunday.

Masry had two players sent off in the second half, first Amr Moussa being red carded for a studs up challenge four minutes after the restart while Elyes Jelassi was handed his matching orders for stamping in the 69th minute.

In both instances, the referee had initially given yellow cards, but after consulting replays with the VAR pitch-side monitor upgraded the yellows to reds. Both Moussa and Jelassi will be unavailable for the return tie in Berkane next weekend.

Both times they had men sent off, Masry didn’t look fazed and still attacked, while Berkane failed to maximize on the situation.

They were stunned with eight minutes left and are now left with a huge task in the return tie in Morocco next weekend. The single away goal scored will be a source of hope, but Berkane will be regretting their failure to take advantage of their numerical edge.

The home side had broken the deadlock in the 10th minute when Amr Marei slid in to beat the Berkane keeper with a low shot after outmuscling his markers to run on to a Jelassi pass from midfield.

Image © Al Masry

Berkane however drew level seven minutes later through Hamza Regragui who simply tapped in after Chadrack Lukombe’s cross from the right found him unmarked inside the box.

The second half was hotly contested, two of Masry’s players being sent off.

But the home side kept fighting and they were rewarded late on when Ayouni scored a sensational freekick from almost 35 yards out to assure victory for Masry.

Soka25east.com