Nkana 3-1 Asante Kotoko (Kampamba 26′, 53′, Tshimenga 21′ | Yacouba 23′)
Ten man Nkana on Sunday afternoon beat visiting Asante Kotoko of Ghana 3 – 1 in the CAF Confederation Cup group stage match played at Nkana Stadium.
Ronald ‘Sate Sate’ Kampamba scored a brace with Freddie Tshimenga netting from the spot.
Beston Chambeshi looked to have tweaked his tactics as he played a double pivot of Shadreck Malambo and Duncan Otieno with enterprising Kelvin Kampamba on the tip of the midfield three.
It looked a 50-50 affair in the opening exchanges but it was Nkana’s captain Walter Bwalya who got Nkana the opening chance when he beat Ismail Abdhu on the right only for the defender to bring him down in the box for a penalty.
Freddie Tshimenga stepped up to score from the spot in the 21st minute.
Kotoko were quickly back in attack and Richard Ocran pulled down a Ghanaian attacker just outside the box a minute a later.
Yacouba Songwe stepped up and his well taken effort clipped the crossbar near Allan Chibwe’s right angle for the equalizer in the 23rd minute.
Nkana then benefited from a lapse in defense by the visitors for Walter Bwalya to head Kampamba into space. The ‘landlord’ took full advantage to shoot home for his first of the night and Nkana’s second.
Nkana extended their lead in the 53rd minute when Kampamba sneaked in between the huge defenders to head home a Gift Zulu cross to just about seal the game for the hosts.
But there was more drama when Ghanaian defender Ocran picked a second yellow after he elbowed Yacouba in retaliation for the referee to give him marching orders in the 75th minute.
The red card did not seem to unsettle the home team as they brought in former Kotoko defender Ben Bahn for goal scorer Tshimenga to help see off the game.
The Ghanaian giants did not do much to trouble Chibwe in the Nkana goal despite the numerical advantage.
The win sees Nkana shoot to the top of group C as they await the results of the game between Zesco United and Al Hilal.
The two teams meet on match-day 4 next week in Ghana in a game Nkana will miss Ocran and Mussa Muhamad due to suspension while Asante Kotoko will miss their skipper Frimpong as well.
Nkana starting line up
Allan Chibwe – Joseph Musonda, Musa Muhammad, Richard Ocran, Gift Zulu, Duncan Otieno, Shadreck Malambo, Kelvin Mubanga (Harrison Chisala), Fred Tshimenga (Ben Bahn), Ronald Kampamba (Moses Nyondo), Walter Bwalya
Asante Kotoko starting line up
Felix Annan, Emmanuel Agyan Badu, Kwame Bonsu, Yocouba Songwe, Maxwell Baakoh, Habib Mohammed, Amos Kwasi Frimpong, Abdul Fatamu Safiu, Umar Basiru, Emmanuel Gyamfi, Ismail Abdul Ganiu