Morocco’s RS Berkane will head to next weekend’s TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup Final second leg with a one-goal advantage after edging Zamalek 2-1 in the first leg of the double-legged affair at the Berkane Municipal Stadium on Sunday evening.
First-half goals by captain, Issoufou Dayo as well as Adil Tahif ensured the two-time champions head to Cairo with a slender lead for what promises to be a highly entertaining second-leg Final in Egypt.
With home ground to their advantage, it was no surprise that the Orange Boys took control of the game in the opening stages.
Continued attack in the Zamalek danger area saw the White Knights conceding an early penalty in the opening 10 minutes that resulted in RS Berkane skipper, Issoufou Dayo stepping up to power the hosts ahead with a well-taken penalty to give his side the lead.
With the roaring crowd of the Moroccans behind them, the two-time champions continued surging forward against a Zamalek side that was struggling to contain the relentless attacks.
The hosts doubled their lead in the 32nd minute after a pin-point cross from a corner by Mohamed El Morabit found Adil Tahif who headed into the bottom right corner to extend the hosts' lead ahead of the break.
The Egyptians returned from the recess a more structured outfit and wasted no time in getting back into the game with the aim of reducing the deficit.
A lapse of concentration just seconds from the resumption saw Ahmed Sayed, with his fifth assist of the competition finding Seifeddine Jaziri, who’s powerful header found the bottom left corner to reduce the deficit.
The early goal injected life into the Zamalek attack who were buoyed by their confidence-boosting goal.
Despite the new-found confidence, the Egyptians could not break the stubborn RS Berkane defence led by the experienced Dayo.
Both sides continued asking questions of each other, but resolute defence saw them deny each other potential goalscoring opportunities for the match to end 2-1 in favour of RS Berkane.
The return leg is scheduled for Sunday, 19 May in Cairo with the kick-off set for 19h00 GMT.