Al Hilal continues the disappointing results with the African champions and stumbles in front of Mazembe
Al-Hilal of Sudan fell in the trap of a goalless draw with its Democratic Congolese guest, Mazembe, today at the "Al-Hilal Stadium" in Khartoum, in the second round of the group stage of the African Champions League soccer competition.
The blue team entered the meeting looking for victory in order to compensate for its heavy loss against Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa in the opening round, and that is why the Serbian coach Zoran Manulovic paid with all his basic cards in the presence of goalkeeper Ali Bouachrine and international defender Faris Abdullah, who was the most active in his team and the Congolese Democratic Vinny Bongunga and Last Jesse From Zimbabwe and Senegalese Ibrahima Ndaye.
On the other hand, the visiting team that won the title five times, most recently in 2015, played with defensive conservatism as it closed its area to the crescent tide, especially with the presence of Zambians Kabasso Chungu and Tandy Mwabe, with reliance on counter-leaders led by playmaker Issac Chipangu and striker Adam Boso.
The Sudanese team imposed a sterile control over the course of the first half, as the Malian goalkeeper Ibrahim Munkuru rarely threatened the goal, with the latter's body tackling Muhammad Abdel Rahman Al-Munafarid's shot (3), and Nasr Omair's header was also removed to a corner (12).
The visiting team's performance improved in the second half, but it was very difficult to penetrate the Sudanese defense, and Bouachrin grabbed the remote Chibangu shot (54), and Mohamed Abdel Rahman penetrated the Mazembe area and hit a cross-ball that was blocked by goalkeeper Monkuru before the defender dispersed it from in front of the goal.
Mazembe completed the match with ten players after Martial Zimba Ekong was sent off for receiving the second warning (90), and Al Hilal sought to benefit from numerical superiority without result.
Mazembe raised his score to two points, after drawing in the previous round with JS Belouizdad of Algeria, while this is the first point for Hilal, while Mamelodi Sundowns leads the group standings with three points from one match.
Mamelodi Sundowns will meet with his host, Shabab Belouizdad, in the Tanzanian capital, Dar es Salaam, after the African Union postponed the meeting and moved it to a neutral country because the Algerian authorities refused to allow the South African team’s mission to enter Algeria, fearing the spread of the mutated version of the Corona virus.
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