A change of coach and venue worked wonders for JS Kabylie of Algeria Friday as they kept alive hopes of an African Champions League semi-finals slot with a 3-1 win over Al-Ittihad of Libya.

Kabylie replaced coach Kamel Mouassa with former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Moussa Saib after home and away losses to Group A leaders Etoile Sahel of Tunisia.

And stone-throwing incidents during the second clash with Etoile two weeks ago forced a change of venue from their base in the eastern town of Tizi Ouzou to Kouba, a district of Algiers.

A must-win match for Kayblie started badly as they conceded an early goal before bouncing back on an artificial pitch to level soon after and score twice during a dominant second-half performance.

Victory lifted the 1981 and 1990 African champions to six points, one less than Ittihad ahead of the final pool fixtures on September 1, and Kabylie have a superior head-to-head record having lost only 1-0 in Libya.

Etoile host bottom-of-the-table FAR Rabat of Morocco in Sousse Saturday and a win will ensure the 2004 and 2005 Champions League runners-up of first place, leaving Ittihad and Kabylie fighting to finish runners-up.

Salem al-Rewani scored his sixth goal of the competition to give Ittihad a 19th-minute lead, firing home from close range after a cross from Mauritanian international Yohan Langlet created confusion.

It took Kabylie just three minutes to equalise as a timid Ittihad clearance off a free kick was volleyed into the net by Boubakeur Athmani past goalkeeper and captain Samir Aboud.

Ittihad, a shadow of the team that conceded just one goal in four other group outings, were under pressure from the start of the second half and Nabil Hemani headed the Algerian ‘Canaries’ in front with 55 minutes gone.

Substitute Youcef Saibi was on the field only two minutes when he snatched the third Kabylie goal in the 69th minute, powering a header past Aboud off a Hemani cross.

Source:Soccer News