New Stars of Cameroon managed to snatch a 1-1 draw against Al Ahli Tripoli of Libya in a first leg of 1/16th round on Saturday, in El Menzah, Tunis.

A sizeable number of Libyan fans made the journey to neighbouring Tunisia, to support their team in their continental campaign.

Things were slow at the start as both teams kept going back and forth, testing each other’s defence but with no valuable threats.

Ahly were the first to score in the 20th minute. Yahia Alzaleetni linked the cross from Anis Seltou to break the deadlock against the run of play.

On the half-hour mark, Moftah Taktak nearly doubled the lead for the host but is header from close range was no trouble for New Stars goalie Patrick Kibyen. The visitors will respond eight minutes later, but Roland Lane saw his shot blocked by the Ahly defence.

The Libyans resumed eager to seal the deal but they got more than they bargained for when New Stars Captain, Junior Ngongang was fouled in the box and was awarded a penalty in the 61st minute.

Ngongang failed to successfully convert the penalty but made amends two minutes later to score the equaliser and a crucial away goal for his team.

The return leg will take place on Sunday, 23 December 2018 in Limbe.

Reactions

Gerard Mbimi (Head Coach, New Stars)

This is a very good result for us since we’re playing away. We played a team that we didn’t know anything. Ahly Tripoli is an excellent team with highly skilled and professional players. They gave us a very difficult game. I want to thank my players who were tactically prepared and didn’t give Ahly a chance to take over. We were mentally prepared for ever scenario. Even though we missed the penalty, my players kept their focus and managed to stay patient and score the away goal which will be very important for us.

Junior Ngongang (Forqard, New Stars)

The 1-1 draw is a victory for us. We came to Tunisia looking for the draw. We scored the goal we needed. Nothing has been played yet. We will work hard to secure the qualification in Cameroon.