Etoile first to final

Tunisia's Etoile du Sahel are through to the final of the African Champions League, after winning the second leg of their semi-final on home soil.
But Al Hilal of Sudan fought until the final whistle, and came close to pipping Etoile in the dying seconds of the game in Sousse.

The Sudanese won the first leg in Omdurman 2-1, meaning Etoile needed only a 1-0 home victory on Saturday to go through, thanks to their away goal.

Amine Chermiti put the Tunisians on the road to the final with the first of two headers after 13 minutes.

And the score remained 1-0 throughout the rest of the first half.

Early in the second half, though, there was a flurry of goals.

Extra time averted

First, on 55 minutes, Saber Ben Frej got the better of a goal mouth scramble to put Etoile 2-0 up on the night.

But three minutes later, Hilal's Nigerian striker Ndubuisi Ezei got one back for the visitors, to make it 2-1 in Sousse, and level at 3-all on aggregate.

It was his eighth goal of the Champions League campaign.

The prospect of extra time loomed.

Not for long though, as Chermiti struck his second of the night on 63 minutes to take Etoile 3-1 ahead on the night, up 4-3 on aggregate.

But Hilal only needed to level the match with a second away goal to go through, and as the clock ran down they pressed and pressed.

A sequence of free kicks from just outside the Etoile area peppered the home side's goal.

But the Tunisians held on and they go through to their fifth consecutive continental final, and their third Champions League final in four years.

They will play either the reigning champions Ahly of Egypt, or Tunisia's Al Ittihad, who meet in Cairo on Sunday evening.

That tie is level at 0-0 after the first leg in Tripoli.