Ethiopia emerged victorious over Somalia 2-1 in their U-20 AFCON 2017 First Round first leg clash on Sunday in Addis Ababa.Two goals in each half were enough to hand the host a vital win against their Eastern neighbours.

The visitors started on a bright note, resulting in two attempts at goal in the opening minute with striker Feysel Hashi leading the onslaughts.

However, the hosts broke the deadlock in the 26th minute when Ame Mohammed’s cross was headed home by Surafel Awel to give Ethiopia the lead. Awel soared above his marker to head over Somalia custodian Mustaf Hussein.

Mohammed should have doubled the lead in the 39th minute after beating his marker with some good piece of skill but shot off target.

Ethiopia dominated possession for after the recess but were wasteful in front of goal, while the Somalis grew in confidence.

The visitors silenced the home crowd in the 77th minute when Isse Ibrahim amazingly scored a header to restore parity.

However, their celebration was cut short three minutes later when defender Tesfaye Shibru headed home from point blank range to restore the lead.

Ethiopia takes a narrow lead into the second leg in a fortnight in Djibouti.

Additional reporting by Caf

Collins Okinyo

Ex- CAF Media Expert. An expert on African football with over 15 years experience ,always with an ear to the ground with indepth knowledge of the game. I have worked for top publications including 7 years at www.supersport.com until i founded www.soka25east.com to quench the thirst of football lovers across the continent. I have trained young upcoming journalists who are now a voice in African football.I have covered World Cup,AFCON,CHAN,Champions League,Confederations Cup,Cecafa,Cosafa,Wafu and many other football tournaments across the World. Founder Football Africa Arena(FAA),Founder www.afrisportdigital.com