Kaizer Chiefs have exited the Caf Confederation Cup after they suffered a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Zamalek at the Suez Canal Stadium on Saturday evening.
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The result, combined with a concurrent 2-0 win for Al Masry over Zesco United, was enough to see the Egyptian sides claim the top two spots in group D and advance into the quarterfinals of the continental competition.
The Amakhosi came home in third place on the log and have now exited two cup competitions in the space of a week and a half, having been put out of the Nedbank Cup by Stellenbosch FC on 4 February.
Zamalek were the first to threaten, with Ahmed Sherif breaking into space down the left of the Chiefs' penalty area, but from a tight angle, he was unable to trouble goalkeeper Brandon Peterson in the 14th minute.
Midway through the first half, the Amakhosi had their first notable effort at goal, with Glody Lilepo striking an effort on target from a free kick, drawing a fine save from Zamalek goalkeeper Al Mahdi Soliman.
In the 26th minute, the White Knights pushed forward and created a shooting chance for Oday Dabbagh on the ‘D’ of the penalty area, but his low drive was turned away for a corner kick by a diving Peterson.
The Egyptian hosts spurned the best chance of the first half in injury time before the interval, with Dabbagh having a free header from a left-flank cross, but the Palestine attacker failed to hit the target from close range.
ZAMALEK BOSS SECOND HALF
However, Zamalek needed just eight minutes of the second half to break the deadlock, with Nasr Mansy providing a great cross from the right to pick out Juan Alvina, who headed from close range to put the hosts ahead.
And the Egyptian heavyweights doubled their lead with just under 20 minutes of regulation time to play, as Mohamed Hamad played a great pass to find fellow substitute Abdallah El Said, who drove a low shot into the bottom corner of the net for 2-0.
Chiefs appeared to be down and out, but struck back in the 75th minute via Lilepo, who scored with a thumping header after meeting a corner kick from Lebohang Maboe.
Yet that was as good as it would get for the Soweto giants, who were unable to score a second goal, which would have been enough to see them through to the quarterfinals. Instead, they ended up losing second spot to Al Masry on goal difference, with the teams ending level on points and head-to-head tie-breakers.
Zamalek (0) 2 (Alvina 53’, El Said 72’)
Kaizer Chiefs (0) 1 (Lilepo 75’)
Zamalek: Soliman, Hassan (Banza 68’), El Wensh-Mahmoud, Abdelmaguid, Esho, Ismail, Shehata, Alvina (Gaber 89’), Dabbagh (Hamad 68’), Sherif (El Said 46’), Mansy (Jaziri 82’)
Chiefs: Peterson, Mako, Kwinika, Msimango (Solomons 82’), Monyane, Ndlovu (Mabaso 74’), Matlou (Sirino 57’), Lilepo, Maboe, Mmodi (Vilakazi 81’), Silva (Mayo 76’)