JOHANNESBURG: Egyptian club Al Masry overcame having two players sent off to snatch a dramatic 2-1 CAF Confederation Cup quarter-final first leg victory over Moroccan visitors Renaissance Berkane on Monday. Haythem Layouni scored direct from a free-kick on 82 minutes to give the home team a narrow aggregate lead after a match that kicked off late on Sunday and finished past midnight. Tunisian Layouni curled a long-range kick over a defensive wall and past goalkeeper Hamza Hamiani Akbi to put Masry ahead for the second time in an incident-packed match. Amr Marey gave Masry an early lead by sprinting on to a headed pass and controlling the bobbling ball to fire into the net from close range. Berkane, the 2020 Confederation Cup winners, equalised within seven minutes as Hamza Regragui tapped a low cross from Democratic Republic of Congo-born Chadrack Lukombe over the line. Ill discipline cost Masry dearly in the second half, leading to red cards for midfielders Amr Moussa and Tunisian Elyes Jlassi and leaving the hosts having to play 25 minutes with nine men. In each case the referee initially showed a yellow card, only to upgrade to red having watched replays of the incidents on a touchline VAR monitor. Berkane winger Youssef el Fahli was the victim in both incidents at the 87,000-capacity Borg el Arab Stadium in the ancient Mediterranean city of Alexandria. Moussa was guilty of a late, studs-up tackle while Jlassi stamped on the right leg of El Fahli after the Moroccan had fallen over.