Al Ahly enjoyed a 1-0 win over Al Hilal Omdurman in Cairo on Sunday, to seal a second-place finish in their Group A of the 2021/2022 CAF Champions League and book their spot in the last eight of the prestigious competition.
Hussein El Shahat scored the all important goal in the second half after coming from the bench, and the Red Devils now wait to win a hat-trick of successive Champions League crowns.
The Red Eagles first chance came seven minutes into the match when Mohamed Sherif hit the side net after some nice work from the left before Percy Tau’s low drive went just wide three minutes later.
It was a one-sided affair as another chance came Al Ahly’s way as Ali Maaloul hit the upright from a freekick on 19 minutes.
A minute later, Al Hilal got their first real attempt at goal when Mohamed Abdelrahman forced Mohamed El-Shenawy to pull off a brilliant dive and repel a dangerous shot.
Al Hilal came close to scoring just before half-time after they were awarded a free-kick on the edge of the Al Ahly box. Gerald Phiri’s attempt from the set-piece beat Mohamed El-Shenawy, but the crossbar came to the hosts’ rescue and the score was 0-0 at the interval.
The start of the second half saw the home side throw caution to the win and they were rewarded with the game’s opening goal in the 74th minute courtesy of Hussein El-Shahat, 1-0.
Al Hilal tried to find their way back into the match after that, but were unable to break down a well-organised Al Ahly defence as they held on for the win and a ticket to the last eight.
How they lined up:
Ahly: Mohamed El Shennawi – Karim Fouad, Yasser Ibrahim Ayman Ashraf, Ali Maaloul – Aliou Dieng (Hamdi Fathi 78), Amr El Sulaya – Percy Tau, Mohamed “Afsha” Magdi (Luis Miquissone 84), Ahmed Abdel-Kader (Taher Mohamed Taher 84), Mohamed Sherif (Hussein El-Shahat 67)
Al-Hilal: Ali Abu-Eshrein, Faris Abdallah, Mohamed Ouattara, Altayeb Abaker, Mwafag Siddig, Salaheldin Adil (Hassan Mutwakil 73), Gerald Phiri (Abdelrazig Omer 59), Abdul Ajagun, Eid Mugadam (Ibrahim Mustapha 73), Yasir Mozamil (David Uromi 39), Mohamed Abdelrahman
