By Ndinawe Simpelwe
at Levy Mwanawasa
Zesco 4 Horoya 1

• ZESCO United right back Simon Silwimba (left) being pulled back by Horoya AC defender Pape Toure during the CAF Champions League match at Levy Mwanawasa Stadium. Zesco beat Horoya 4-1. Picture by SAMUEL LUKHANDA

ZAMBIA’s representatives in the Confederation of African Football (CAF) inter-club competitions, Zesco United and Zanaco both produced convincing wins in the first legs of their respective competitions to set one foot into the second round.
The Zambian champions dominated proceedings from kick-off and were better in all the departments, while Horoya struggled to settle in the match much to the delight of the sizeable home crowd.
Zesco coach George Lwandamina surprisingly started with his new signings upfront, Jesse Jackson Were and Idris Mbombo, while Jackson Mwanza started on the bench and the coach would be proud of his decision as the newcomers combined well to terrorise the visitors.
It took 11 minutes for Zesco to open the floodgates as the hardworking Mbombo capitalised on the visitors’ poor defending to slot in at the near post a Cletus Chama corner.
The goal ignited confidence in the home side as they continued to outplay their opponents who looked clueless on how to stop the onslaught and occasionally went forward.
As Horoya pushed forward in a rare attack, they were caught on a counter-attack which saw Mbombo control a long ball before squaring it to Were who made it 2-0 to increase the misery in the visitors.
Three minutes later, Mbombo’s flicked header found Were who overpowered his marker but his effort came off the cross bar as Horoya failed to trouble the Zambians.
Four minutes later, Zesco increased their tally after Chama beat a horde of defenders at the edge of the box before slotting a low shot past the Horoya goalkeeper Khadim Nd’íaye to end the half three goals ahead.
In the second half, Horoya composed themselves and looked determined to reverse the scoreline.
They got a boost when Zesco’s Were limped off in the 55th minute and was replaced by Mwanza, while Mbombo’s collision with the goalkeeper also saw him replaced by Maybin Mwaba on 61 minutes.
Barely a minute after coming on, Mwaba was on the scoresheet with only his second touch of the ball when he finished off a Chama assist to send the fans into wild celebrations.

The scoreline seemed to get to the heads of the players as they became careless with the ball which saw Dauti Musekwa showboating and ended up being dispossessed and Horoya pulled one back through Oeansey Mandela to give the Guineans a lifeline going into the return leg.
Lwandamina refused to be carried away by the flattering scoreline, saying the battle was not over as there was still 90 minutes to play in Guinea.
Horoya coach Victor Zvunka admitted that his charges failed to play their game, hence were beaten in all departments and Zesco deserved to win.
And from Rufaro Stadium, Zanaco added to the day’s joy by defeating Harare City 2-1 in Zimbabwe in an exciting game that left a huge mountain to overcome for the Zimbabweans in the return leg.
The Sunshine Boys, as Harare City are fondly known, started the game on a bright note but their zeal was washed off as Zanaco proved resilient and later on dominated play to the anguish of the local fans.
City had two early chances from Ronald Chitiyo who failed to make a one-on-one chance count before Raphael Manuvire shot wide from close range.
That was more than enough for Zanaco to see as they pushed forward and Aubrey Funga broke the deadlock with a 35th minute goal to give the bankers a one-goal cushion at halftime.
The home side came from the break breathing fire but still failed to break through the bankers’ backline. Zanaco doubled the advantage in the 80th minute through Roderick Kabwe’s free kick but the home side replied four minutes later via a second-half substitute Tanaka Ruzvidzo goal from close range before Ronald Chitiyo wasted a glorious chance to level matters in injury time as he jumped unchallenged but headed high.