Angolans Primeiro survive CAF Champions League scare

JOHANNESBURG: CAF Champions League 2018 semi-finalists Primeiro Agosto of Angola came from two goals behind Wednesday to beat Otoho of Congo 4-2 in a 2019 preliminary round first leg.

Cabwey Kivutuka and Mandala Konte scored within four minutes midway through the opening half to rattle the home side at the Estadio 11 de Novembro in the capital Luanda.Mongo Bile ignited the revival with a goal on the half-hour and star winger Geraldo equalised before half-time by converting a penalty.

Geraldo netted again on 61 minutes to put Primeiro ahead and Democratic Republic of Congo-born Jacques Bitumba grabbed a potentially crucial fourth goal a minute from time.Despite the loss, Otoho were relieved to avoid a repeat of the nine-goal thrashing they suffered against Mouloudia Alger in Algeria last season at the same stage.

Primeiro were unlucky not to reach the 2018 Champions League final having had a penalty harshly awarded against them and been denied a seemingly legitimate goal.Both incidents occurred during the second leg of a semi-final in Tunisia won 4-2 by eventual champions Esperance, who had trailed 1-0 from the first leg in Angola.

After reviewing footage of the match, African controlling body CAF banned the Zambian referee, Janny Sikazwe, from all football activities pending a hearing.There were five former African champions in action and Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates of South Africa, ASEC Mimosas of the Ivory Coast and Ismaily of Egypt all won.

The other former winners, Club Africain of Tunisia, had a challenging task away to experienced continental campaigners APR of Rwanda and will not be unhappy with a 0-0 draw.Pirates scored twice in stoppage time through Zambian Justin Shonga and Linda Mntambo to complete a come-from-behind 5-1 victory over Light Stars of the Seychelles in Soweto.

Mario Rava gave the Indian Ocean part-timers a shock early lead before the South Africans recovered to lead 3-1 by half-time with Zambian Augustine Mulenga among the goals.Sundowns won 2-0 away to Leones Vegetarianos in Equatorial Guinea, where Jeremy Brockie opened the scoring with only his second competitive goal this year.