EMMANUEL CLOTTEY STEALS SHOW AS CHELSEA HUMBLE ZAMALEK

Berekum Chelsea’s bid to win the CAF Champions League got off to a flying start as a treble of well taken goals by Emmanuel Clottey were enough to hand Egyptian giants, Zamalek, a 2-3 defeat in their Group B opener.

Clottey on two occasions drew level for the Ghanaian debutants before sealing the win with a 91st minute tap in at the Accra Sports Stadium over the weekend.
The home side looked more purposeful from the onset as they dominated the game from all departments. The Berekum lads could have taken the lead in the first ten minutes of play but Clottey was denied by the post.
In spite of Chelsea’s dominance and possession, it was the visitors who broke the deadlock against the run of play in the 21st minute through their Burkinabe forward Abdoulaye Cise .

The dangerous Zamalek forward got the better of Chelsea’s defenders to shoot past Ernest Sowah in the Chelsea goal post to silence the handful of spectators at their adoptive home.

However, the lead only lasted for 7 minutes as Clottey dived to head in from a Solomon Asante cross from the left flank.
Cise restored the one goal advantage for the five-time CAF Champions League winners on the 35th minute mark in a similar fashion to Chelsea’s equalizer.
Left unmarked in the Chelsea penalty area, Cise rose above everyone to register his second and last goal of the day.

Zamalek who last won the CAF Competition in 2002 then decided to sit back with the hope of catching Chelsea on the break until Senegalese referee Badarra Diatta ended the first half.

Chelsea bounced back from the break and immediately clinched the equalizer yet again through petit striker ,Emanuel Clottey who after dribbling past Abdel-Wahed El-Sayed, kept his composure to shoot calmly into an empty net.
With the score at 2-2, both teams treaded cautiously until Clottey completed his hat-trick in the first minute of injury time.

The 24 year old former Ghanaian ‘Goal King’ taped in from close range when he was put through by Ibrahim Issaka , who had replaced provider of the first goal, Solomon Asante in the 77th minute.

The goal was Clottey’s ninth in the Champions League this season leaving him in pole position to contest for the top scorer’s award.
Chelsea’s next task is to travel to Lubumbashi in DR Congo where they will face former champions, TP Mazembe.