JOHANNESBURG: Egyptians Zamalek defeated Rwandans Rayon Sports 3-1 in the CAF Confederation Cup at the weekend -- their first game since 20 supporters died last month.
The deaths occurred outside a Cairo stadium as fans of the White Knights tried to force their way into a stadium.
Police reacted by firing tear gas and birdshot, triggering a deadly stampede three years after more than 70 people were killed in post-football match Port Said rioting.
The deaths of the Zamalek supporters led to the national league being suspended, but CAF fixtures have gone ahead in empty stadiums.
Zamalek players wore shirts with 'Remember 20' on them and the match was staged behind closed doors hundreds of kilometres from Cairo in Red Sea resort El-Gouna.
The last-32 first leg in the second-tier African club competition marked the debut of Portuguese coach Jesualdo Ferreira after compatriot Jaime Pacheco quit over a row with the Zamalek chairman.
Ferreira watched the five-time African champions build a 3-0 half-time lead through a brace from Ahmed Eid and an Emmanuel Imanishimwe own-goal.
Rayon, who fluffed a first-half penalty, pulled one goal back through Isaac Muganza.
That goal will give Rayon hope ahead of the April 3-5 return match in Kigali, but it would be a shock if Zamalek fail to progress.
Gabonese Mounana continued a goal-packed campaign by walloping Zambians Power Dynamos 4-0 in Libreville.
Georges Ambourouet raised his goal tally to five as leading Confederation Cup scorer this season by converting a first-half penalty.
Cedric Ondo Biyoghe found the net twice within six minutes after the break and a goal from Togolese Arafat Djako completed an unexpectedly convincing win for the central Africans.
Mounana scored eight preliminary-round goals, but they came against the weak opposition of Zanzibaris Polisi.
Having won narrowly against Botswanans BDF, Tanzanians Young Africans ran riot at home to Zimbabweans Platinum for a 5-1 triumph.
Mrisho Ngasa bagged a brace for the Dar es Salaam club and Burundian Amissi Tambwe and Rwandan Haruna Niyonzima were other scorers.
A first-minute Firmin Mubele goal set up Democratic Republic of Congo outfit V Club for a 3-0 victory over Mozambicans Ferroviario Beira in Kinshasa.
Malians Djoliba and Ghanaians Hearts of Oak built 2-1 home leads over Egyptians Petrojet and Senegalese Olympique Ngor respectively.
Ivorians ASEC Mimosas were held 1-1 by Libyans Al-Ittihad in Abidjan with Yahaya Mohamed cancelling the lead Yannick Zakri gave the 1998 African champions.
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