ENPPI's hopes of reaching the CAF Confederation Cup group stage were dealt a blow after they suffered a 2-0 defeat at Ethiopia's Saint George in the first leg of the competition's round of 16 on Sunday.

Shimeles Bekele opened the scoring after six minutes and Abebaw Butako added the second 19 minutes later.  

Saint George, who were knocked out of the African Champions League at the hands of Egypt's Zamalek, came close to doubling the score after the break but ENNPI's keeper Mohamed Abdel-Monsef kept alive his team's hopes with some heroic saves.

ENPPI will face an uphill climb to overturn the two-goal deficit when they host Saint George in the second leg in Cairo in a fortnight.

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