club beat The Egyptian Al-Ahly It defeated its neighbor Al-Hilal Al-Sudanese, 3-0, on Saturday, at Cairo International Stadium, in front of about 50,000 spectators, in the sixth and final round of Group Two competitions, to book the last ticket to the quarter-finals of the African Champions League football competition.
Mahmoud Abdel Moneim Kahraba (25) and substitute Hussein Al-Shahat (64 and 81) scored the goals. Al-Ahly, the record holder in the number of titles in the competition (10) and runner-up in the last edition, deprived its guest Al-Hilal of second place in the group, with a difference between the two direct confrontations, after they equaled points with 10 each, so he joined Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa, the group champion who defeated Cameroonian Coton Sport 2. -1.
Al-Ahly took revenge for its loss against Al-Hilal in the first leg, 0-1, at the “Blue Jewel” stadium in Omdurman, where it needed to win with a single goal or by a difference of two goals if its net was conceded today, but it hit the hat-trick. Al-Hilal paid dearly for the loss of its international player, Athar Al-Taher, a penalty kick in stoppage time in the match against its guest Mamelodi Sundowns (1-1) in the fifth round, which was enough to settle matters before facing the Cairo club.
Ahlawi control in the middle of the field
Al-Ahly dominated the midfield and made repeated offensive attempts against the defensive bloc of Al-Hilal players. In the eighth minute, Marawan Attia passed deep into Al Hilal’s defense, and reached Kahraba on the borders of the penalty area. He shot it directly, passed next to the right post of Ivorian goalkeeper Youssef Fofana, then another pass from South Africa, Percy Tau (9), reached Kahraba inside the penalty area, and hit it, passed next to Fofana’s left post. .
Al-Ahly players continued their control and danger over the guests’ goal, and from a pass by Ahmed Abdel Kader to Kahraba, he dodged Senegalese Othman Diouf, and hit the ball curved in the upper left corner of Fovona’s goal (25). Marawan Attia’s shot from outside the penalty area (28) almost resulted in a second goal for the landlords, but it passed near the left post.
With the passage of time, the Al-Hilal players gave up their defensive retreat, and Yasser Al-Muzamil launched from the right and passed a cross that was hit by Muhammad Abdel-Rahman, which passed next to the right post of Muhammad Al-Shennawi’s goal. Al-Hilal players tried to return to the score at the start of the second half, as Congolese Fabrice fired from inside the penalty area (53), which was dominated by Al-Shennawi. Marawan Attia responded with a shot from outside the penalty area (55), which hit the goalkeeper’s hand and bounced off the right post, passed on the goal line, and Fovona pushed it away from in front of Kahraba to a corner, to miss the chances of a sure goal for Al-Ahly.
In the 64th minute, Tau penetrated Al-Hilal’s defense from the right side and passed a through ball deep into Al-Hilal’s defense to the uncontrolled Hussein Al-Shahat. Ahmed, and shot into the net to the left of Fofana.
Wydad takes revenge on JS Kabylie
On the other hand, Moroccan champion Wydad Athletic took revenge on its guest, JS Kabylie, and inflicted a severe loss on it 3-0 at the Mohammed V stadium in Casablanca, to snatch the top of Group A. The Senegalese Wydad trio was scored by Pauli Sambo (41 and 51) and Zouhair El Matraji (87).
Thus, Wydad raised its score to 13 points compared to 10 points for JS Kabylie II, after the two teams had previously secured qualification for the quarter-finals, and Petro Atletico of Angola came third with seven points after defeating Vita Club from the Democratic Republic of the Congo 1-0, and Vita bottomed the group with four points.
As for the fourth Arab group, Tunisia’s Esperance won the lead in its favor after a negative draw with its guest, Al-Shabab Al-Athlete, Belouizdad of Algeria, at Hammadi Al-Aqrabi Stadium in Rades. Esperance maintained the lead with 11 points, in front of second-placed Belouizdad with 10 points. The Egyptian Zamalek comes third with seven points, and the Sudanese Mars fourth with five points.
Next Wednesday, the draw for the quarter-finals of the CAF Champions League will be held.
France 24/AFP
