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Tag: Al Ahly

  • Al Ahly claim record-extending 12th CAF Champions League title

    Al Ahly claim record-extending 12th CAF Champions League title

    Egyptian giants, Al Ahly claimed a record-extending 12th CAF Champions League title after defeating  Esperance 1-0 in the second leg of the final, held at the Cairo International Stadium on Saturday.

    The match victory makes it the fourth time Al Ahly will lift the prestigious trophy in succession.

    Following a goalless stalemate in Rades on May 19, the Egyptians with the backing of their highly vocal home crowd did just enough to  subdue their Tunisian opponent.

    Ahly’s only goal of the match came courtesy of an unfortunate own goal by Roger Aholou after a header by Ramy Moustafa came off the inside of defender’s leg to beat young goalkeeper, Amenallah Memmiche in the fourth minute.

    Played at an electrifying pace under the Cairo stars, both sides had an equal go at each other throughout the encounter, with attack after attack being thwarted by equally solid defending.

    A glaring chance for Esperance came in the 52nd minute when TKA’s low drive almost caught Mostafa Shobeir off guard, who was fortunate to see the strike go inches wide.

    The Tunisians, with momentum on their side almost levelled matters just after the hour mark after the Brazilian duo of Yan Sasse and Rodrigo Silva concluded with Sasse striking a beautiful curler that went just wide off target.

    Ahly almost doubled their lead when Emam Ashour dribbled past two defenders to unleash a potent strike that was fisted away by the keeper.

    Coming on to bring in his experience, the ever-green Afsha almost made it two in the 87th minute with a well taken free kick that came off the bar in what could have been a wonder strike by the marksman.

    The game ended 1-0 in favour of the club of the century who were crowned champions of Africa once again in front of their home fans in Cairo.

  • CAF Champions League: Esperance, Al Ahly to face off in final

    CAF Champions League: Esperance, Al Ahly to face off in final

     

    Two North African sides, Al Ahly of Egypt  and Esperance  of Tunisia are set to lock horns in this season’s  CAF Champions League final after their respective semi-final aggregate victories over TP Mazembe and Mamelodi Sundowns.

    Al Ahly won its second leg tie in Cairo 3-0 courtesy of goals from Mohamed Abdelmonem, Wessem Abou Ali and Akram Tawfik, they qualified 3-1 on aggregate.

    However, Raed Bouchniba’s 57th minute strike was enough to see Esperance defeat Sundowns 1-0 in Pretoria and 2-0 on aggregate.

    It will be Al Ahly’s 17th CAF Champions League final appearance which they have won a record 11 times and are the defending champions.

    Esperance on the other hand made it to it’s ninth final after having won four and lost three games respectively.

    Both clubs have faced each other multiple times in the final including in 2012 and 2018 won by Al Ahly and Esperance respectively. They met in last season’s semi-final, with the Egyptians winning 3-1 on aggregate.

  • Al-Ahly win 43rd Egyptian League title with 5 games to go

    Al-Ahly win 43rd Egyptian League title with 5 games to go

    African Champions Al-Ahly secured a record-extending 43rd Egyptian League title, without playing on Monday, as their closest rivals Pyramids were beaten 2-1 by Ceramica Cleopatra.

    Al-Ahly, who won a record extending 11th title in African Champions League last month, have now clinched five titles since last October with coach Marcel Koller enjoying his first season in Egypt.

    The Cairo giants have now 75 points from 29 games, with five matches to play, eight points ahead of Pyramids, who have two remaining games.

    Pyramids opened the score with a Karim Hafez free kick, before conceding near the end of each half through forward Salah Mohsen who is on loan from Al-Ahly.

    Reports say Mohsen would return to his parent club next season.

    Former Austria coach Koller started his tenure with winning in October the Egyptian Super Cup, which was postponed from last season due to a busy schedule.

    He later clinched a record-extending 38th Egypt Cup title in April, before winning one more Super Cup in May.

    Al-Ahly are expected to celebrate the new title next Thursday when they confront arch-rivals Zamelek, the title holders for the last two seasons.

  • CAF Champions League: Al Ahly beat Wydad Casablanca 3-2 to win 11th title

    CAF Champions League: Al Ahly beat Wydad Casablanca 3-2 to win 11th title

    Al Ahly football club of Egypt won the CAF champions league trophy after defeating Wydad of Morocco 3-2 on aggregate on Sunday in Casablanca.

    The match in Morocco ended 1-1 but the 2-1 win at home in Cairo ensured Al Ahly coasted home to victory on Sunday night.

    In the 27th minute, Wydad’s defender Yahia Attiyat Allah scored the first goal in the match, tipping the scale in his club’s favor.

    However, in the 78th minute, Al Ahly’s defender Mohamed Abdelmonem scored, bringing the game to a tie, and his team closer to winning the championship.

    Wydad Casablanca earned their spot in the final for the second year in a row after a 2-2 draw against Mamelodi Sundowns at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria on May 20. They advanced based on the away goals rule.

    Al Ahly, on the other hand, reached the final by beating Raja Casablanca in the quarter-finals and Esperance Tunis in the semi-finals, without conceding any goals in their previous four Champions League matches.

    Last year, Wydad AC secured the title with a 2-0 victory over Al Ahly in the final, led by Walid Regragui, who currently coaches Morocco’s national team.

    Al Ahly have now won a record 11 Champions League titles in Africa, a record for the most win in the competition.

     

  • FIFA CWC: Real Madrid to face African champions, Al Ahly in Wednesday’s semi-final

    FIFA CWC: Real Madrid to face African champions, Al Ahly in Wednesday’s semi-final

    Real Madrid will travel to Morocco later this month for this year’s  FIFA Club World Cup tourney.

    The Spanish La Liga side will be competing at the competition owing to winning the UEFA Champions League last season.

    Los Blancos will now aim to add another trophy to their collection.

    The La Liga champions now know who they will face in Wednesday’s semi-final encounter, following the resumption of the quarterfinals on Saturday.

    Al Ahly defeated MLS club Seattle Sounders over the weekend.

    The Egyptian champions will now face Real Madrid in Rabat.

    The winner will face either Flamengo or Al Hilal in the Club World Cup final, due to be played next weekend.

  • CAF Champions League group stage draws bring exciting football matches [FULL FIXTURES]

    CAF Champions League group stage draws bring exciting football matches [FULL FIXTURES]

    The draw for the 2021/2022 CAF Champions League Group Stage was conducted at the headquarters of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) in Cairo, Egypt on Tuesday.

    Pitso Mosimane, coach of Egyptian giants Al Ahly SC, assisted Khaled Nassar, CAF Head of Competitions, in the draw.

    It paved the way towards the group stage of the premier continental club competition.

    But it had significant pairings, with Mosimane’s African champions Al Ahly drawn alongside his former South African club, Mamelodi Sundowns, alongside two Sudanese clubs.

    Following are the groups:

    Group A
    Al Ahly (Egypt)
    Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa)
    Al Hilal (Sudan)
    Al Merriekh (Sudan)

    Group B
    Raja (Morocco)
    Horoya (Guinea)
    ES Setif (Algeria)
    AmaZulu (South Africa)

    Group C
    Esperance (Tunisia)
    Etoile du Sahel (Tunisia)
    CR Belouizdad (Algeria)
    Jwaneng Galaxy (Botswana)

    Group D
    Wydad (Morocco)
    Zamalek (Egypt)
    Petro Atletico (Angola)
    GD Sagrada Esperanca (Angola)

  • Al Ahly beat Kaizer Chiefs to win CAF for 10th time

    Al Ahly beat Kaizer Chiefs to win CAF for 10th time

    Egyptian football giants, Al Ahly defended their TotalEnergies CAF Champions League crown on Saturday after securing a 3-0 victory over 10-man Kaizer Chiefs of South Africa in the final.

    The final was played on Saturday at the Stade Mohammed V in Morocco.

    Mohamed Sherif, Mohamed Magdi Afsha, and Amr El Solia scored the goals to secure the trophy for the Egyptian club.

    Before the end of the first half, the Soweto giants who were making their maiden appearance in the final were reduced to 10 men after midfielder, Happy Mashiane was shown a red card for a horror tackle.

    The victory was a historic one for Al Ahly as they become the first club to win back-to-back Champions League titles three times.

    They won 2005-2006, 2012-2013 and 2020-2021.

    Al Ahly will pocket $2.5 million for winning the Champions League and are guaranteed at least another $3.5 million when they compete in the FIFA Club World Cup in Japan.

    While Ahly celebrated their tenth Champions League trophy, head coach Pitso Mosimane also celebrated his third as coach and second with Ahly.

    He led them to the crown last season.

  • Title-holders Al Ahly advance to CAF Champions League semi-finals

    Title-holders Al Ahly advance to CAF Champions League semi-finals

    Defending champions Al Ahly qualified for the 2020/2021 CAF Champions League semi-finals for the fourth time in five years with a 3-1 aggregate win over Mamelodi Sundowns on Saturday.

    This was after Al Ahly played to a 1-1 draw with the South Africans in the second leg in Pretoria.

    Their healthy 2-0 win in the first leg in Cairo last weekend has now proved to be decisive.

    The result meant coach Pitso Mosimane eliminated his former employers in his first competitive return to South Africa.

    Al Ahly were on the front foot from the word go and they were ahead after just 11 minutes.

    That was when Yasser Ibrahim finished off after picking the ball from a deflected corner-kick.

    Mamelodi Sundowns, now needing four goals to overturn the tie were stunned into action and they laboured to get back on level terms, doing so after half an hour.

    Mosa Lebusa finished off from a corner-kick, beating Mohamed Elshenawy in Ahly’s goal.

    Mamelodi Sundowns pushed Al Ahly into their own half of the pitch as they looked to narrow the gap.

    In the second half, they kept the pressure high but could not get themselves a second goal that would have definitely injected the fight in them

  • Al Ahly advance into CAF Champions League final

    Al Ahly advance into CAF Champions League final

    Al Ahly have reached the final of the Caf Champions League following their 3-1 victory over Wydad Athletic Club at Cairo International Stadium on Friday.

    The Egyptian side went into the encounter with a 2-0 advantage and did enough to reach the final stage of the competition on a 5-1 aggregate.

    Marwan Mohsen opened the scoring for the Cairo-based club with only seven minutes into the encounter, beating goalkeeper Ahmed Reda.

    The goal was initially ruled out for offside but after the centre referee consulted with the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) the effort was allowed to stand.

    Wydad had their chance in the 22nd minute to find the back of the net after Kasengu Kazadi pounced on a poor pass from Al Ahly player but the forward fired his effort wide.

    Nigeria forward Junior Ajayi came close to double the Red Devils’ lead in the 25th minute but was denied by Wydad goalkeeper Reda.

    The moment eventually came for Al Ahly to add to their lead when Hussein Elshahat beat his marker before slotting home his effort.

    The second-half continued in a similar fashion with the Red Devils dominating proceedings and dictating the pace and were rewarded for their fine displays when Yasser Ibrahim scored the third goal for his side with a powerful header.

    Substitute Zouheir El Moutaraji scored an 82nd-minute effort which ended as a mere consolation as Al Ahly secured victory to progress to the final of the competition.

    Goal

  • Esperance thrash Al Ahly to win African Champions League

    Esperance of Tunisa were crowned CAF Champions League winners after staging an impressive comeback to defeat Egyptian side Al Ahly 3-0 in the second leg on Friday evening.

    The Egyptian giants came into the clash with an advantage, having won the first leg 3-1 last week Friday.

    The visitors were without the services of striker Walid Azarou, who received a two-game ban from CAF for unsporting behaviour in the first leg.

    Esperance came out firing in the first half, with Ghilane Chaali and Mohamed Ali Yacoubi going close in the opening 15 minutes.

    The chances continued to fall for the Tunisian outfit as Taha Khenissi headed wide from close range following a corner from Ayman Ben Mohamed.

    Esperance’s pressure eventually paid off just before the halftime break, with Saad Beguir slotting into the bottom corner after being set up by Taha Khenissi.

    Ten minutes into the second half, Esperance doubled their advantage as Beguir completed his brace, nodding home a cross from Sameh Derbali to put his ahead on the away goals rule.

    Al Ahly responded with a double change after the hour mark, with Salah Mohsen and Karim Nedved replacing Mohamed Nany and Mohamed Hussein.

    However, it was Esperance who nearly grabbed a third on the night in the 80th minute through Anice Badri, who saw his effort tipped over the crossbar.

    The hosts sealed the win with four minutes remaining as Badri registered his name of the score-sheet with a stunning strike that sailed into the top corner, securing the much-coveted CAF Champions League title. Their first since 2011.