Ahly flying high in Champs League

The ASEC coach Patrick Liewig was rewarded with a fine display

Ivory Coast's Asec Mimosas have bounced back into semi-final contention in the African Champions League, whilst Egypt's Al Ahly are just a point away from making it to the last four.

Asec needed a win to lift them off the bottom of Group A, and that is what they achieved, claiming a 3-0 victory over Zamalek in Abidjan on Sunday.

The win puts them into second place in the table, a point ahead of Zamalek and two ahead of Dynamos, who drop into fourth place.

All the teams have just two games left to play.

Al Ahly, meanwhile, closed in on a place in the Champions League semi-finals after a 1-0 win over Zimbabwean champions Dynamos on Saturday.

Barakat proved to be the difference for Ahly

The multiple African champions now need just one point from their remaining two Group A fixtures to seal a place in the last four.

Former BBC African footballer of the year Mohammed Barakat scored the only goal of the game in Harare.

The Red Devils of Cairo had just scraped a 2-1 victory over the same opponents in Cairo two weeks ago, but here they put in a greatly improved performance.

Al Ahly found the net twice more in an action-packed first half at the Rufaro Stadium, but both goals were disallowed by the Burkina Faso referee.

Dynamos' best chance of equalising fell to Marufu late in the closing stages of the opening half, but he blazed over the crossbar and the Al Ahly goalkeeper was rarely troubled after the break.

Al Ahly now top Group A with 10 points.