Kitara 1-2 Al Ahly

Kitara FC squandered a first-half lead to suffer a 2-1 defeat to Egyptian giants Al Ahly in the first leg of their CAF Confederation Cup final qualifying tie at Hoima City Stadium on Saturday.

The Ugandan side started brightly and looked capable of upsetting the favourites, but Al Ahly responded after the break through Omar El Saei before Ahmed Sayed, popularly known as Zizo, converted a penalty to give the visitors the advantage ahead of next Sunday’s return leg in Cairo.

Backed by a sizeable home crowd, Kitara took the lead just after the half-hour mark through South Sudan international Wahab Gadafi.

Martin Kizza received delivered a low cross from the left after a ball was chested into his path by Patrick Kaddu inside the visitors’ penalty area, allowing Gadafi to tap home and send the home supporters into celebration.

Kitara carried their advantage into the break after a disciplined first-half display, but Al Ahly returned with greater urgency and gradually took control of the contest.

The visitors’ pressure paid off shortly after the hour mark when Marwan Attia picked out El Saei inside the penalty area. The forward poked the ball underneath Kitara goalkeeper Joel Mutakubwa to restore parity.

The equaliser shifted the momentum firmly in Al Ahly’s favour, with Kitara struggling to reproduce their first-half intensity.

In the 80th minute, Akram Tawfik burst forward on the right and was brought down inside the penalty area by Jasper Aheebwa, prompting referee Eugene Mdluli to award a spot-kick.

Zizo stepped up and fired beyond Mutakubwa’s dive to complete the comeback and hand the Egyptian side a crucial away victory.

Kitara must now overturn the deficit when the two sides meet again at Cairo International Stadium next Sunday, with Al Ahly needing only a draw to progress to the Confederation Cup group stage.