CAIRO — Egyptian giants Al-Ahly maintained their unbeaten home record against Morocco’s Wydad AC in the CAF Champions League after triumphing 2-1 in the first-leg of the final at the Cairo International Stadium.
Marcel Koller’s side capitalised on poor marking to take the lead through winger Percy Tau at the end of the first half as forward Mahmoud Kahraba doubled their advantage just before the hour mark.
The two goals came from a pair of winger Hussein el-Shahat assists as the Red Devils edged closer to a record extending 11th CAf Champions League title.
Al-Ahly will travel to face Wydad at the Mohamed V stadium on Sunday, June 11.
But, Wydad gave themselves a good chance with an away goal, substitute Said Eddine Bouhra scoring with four minutes left to keep the tie within reach for the return fixture.
Al-Ahly had never lost to Wydad at home in the competition, although their head-to-head record in the final made for less stellar reading after being beaten on both occasions in 2017 and 2022.
In an entertaining duel, Al-Ahly went to the break a goal up courtesy of Tau’s bullet header at the stroke of 45 minutes.
El-Shahat showed determination to fight and get to a Hamdy Fathy over hit pass on the byline, curling in a cross that landed on the South African international unmarked at the far post.
Before that, Ahly who had 75pc of possession in the opening half had some chances to score. In the 18th minute, the ball landed kindly into Kahraba’s path, but the latter’s low shot was saved by the keeper.
Ahly had a penalty decision overruled by VAR on the half hour mark. The referee had initially pointed to the spot after left back Ali Maaloul’s freekick seemingly bounced off a hand inside the box but after visiting the pitch side monitor, the ref changed his initial decision.
Wydad came close to breaking the deadlock in the 39th minute, but were denied by a brilliant goalkeeper Mostafa Shoubir save. The custodian sprinted off his line to narrow the gap and save Reda Jaadi’s volley after Bouly Sambou had nodded down a freekick for him.
In the second-half, the game was off to a fast-paced start and Kahraba had two shots saved by the keeper back-to-back seven minutes after the restart.
On the other end, Aymane el-Hassouni had a sniff at goal with a good curling effort but it flew inches wide off target.
Ahly’s persistence however bore them the second goal. Kahraba smashed home on the hour mark after El-Shahat picked a long ball from Mohamed Hany on the left before cutting it back into the area.
Despite going down 2-0, Wydad kept fighting and they were denied by the base of the upright in the 68th minute when left back Yahya Attiat Allah swung a volley from the edge of the area.
In the 79th minute, they had another effort at goal but were denied once again by a brilliant Shoubir save, the Ahly keeper palming away Ayoub el-Amloud’s shot from the right.
Their hunger was finally rewarded with four minutes to play when Bouhra, barely two minutes on the pitch rifled into the back of the net after Sambou touched an Amloud cut back into his direction.
Ahly put in some effort to restore their two-goal cushion and came close with Tau’s shot from distance, but it came to nothing.
The Red Devils saw off the result, and will now head to Casablanca next week looking to avoid defeat to clinch their 11th title.
Wydad will only need in the least a 1-0 victory to retain their crown and if Ahly score, they will have to put three more in the back of the net to earn victory.
