Ghana striker scores twice in Al Ahly defeat

Ghana striker John Antwi scored a brace as Al Ahly were given a humbling in their African Champions League quarter-final group opener on Saturday, falling to Zambian upstarts Zesco United 3-2.

Zesco took the lead as John Ching’andu scored the match’s first goal on 27 minutes.

Rising Ghana star John Antwi, a 23-year-old forward who arrived at Ahly before this season from Saudi Arabia’s Al Shabab Riyadh, struck back just three minutes later.

It was his second goal of the tournament, after his last-32 knockout-round strike in a 2-0 aggregate win over Angola’s Recreativo do Libolo.

The 2014-15 successive Zambian champions came out hot in the second half, however, with Clatous Chama firing in a double with goals on 48 and 55 minutes.

Antwi brought one back for Ahly on 67 minutes for a double, but Zesco held on for the first three points of the round.

The Zambian side will travel to Morocco on June 29 to play Wydad Casablanca in the next of their six contests. Egyptian champions Ahly host Ivory Coast club Asec Mimosas the day before.

Martin Jol-managed Ahly are a record eight-time winners of the African Champions League, their last title coming in 2013.