Johannesburg (AFP) – Palestinian Mahmoud Wadi scored a hat-trick as Al Masry of Egypt triumphed 4-1 away to Malindi of Zanzibar Sunday in a CAF Confederation Cup last 32 first leg.
Wadi, who played at the 2019 Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates, broke the deadlock on the Indian Ocean island after 27 minutes and his second goal gave Masry a 3-1 half-time lead.
He completed his treble after 54 minutes with the only goal of the second half to become the third player to bag a hat-trick this season in the second tier African club competition.
Shafiu Mumuni needed only eight minutes to score his treble for Ashanti Gold of Ghana in the previous round and Ivan Bogere took 63 minutes to achieve the feat for Proline of Uganda.
Masry reached the 2018 Confederation Cup semi-finals, but were shock last 32 losers a year ago. Malindi are debutants in the African equivalent of the UEFA Europa League.
South African second division side TS Galaxy continued an impressive run in their first CAF campaign with a 1-0 home win over experienced CNaPS Sport of Madagascar in Nelspruit.
After home and away victories in a preliminary tie, Galaxy completed a hat-trick of solitary-goal wins thanks to a Sanele Barns strike on five minutes.
Zimbabwe outfit Triangle United, who are also competing in the Confederation Cup for the first time, exceeded expectations by winning 1-0 away to Azam of Tanzania in Dar es Salaam.
Ralph Kawondera scored the only goal on 34 minutes as the visitors overcame the handicap of being far less experienced African campaigners than ice cream company club Azam.
Zanaco of Zambia were another southern Africa team to win away, overcoming Bolton City of Mauritius 2-1 in Port Louis after establishing a two-goal advantage by half-time.
Zimbabwean Tafadzwa Rusike and Zambian Rodgers Kola scored for the Lusaka outfit before Ambrose Mpoue halved the deficit.
A couple of west African showdowns ended goalless, leaving Salitas of Burkina Faso and San Pedro of Ivory Coast well placed to advance at the expense of ESAE of Benin and Santoba of Guinea respectively.
