TUNIS – Defending champions Al-Ahly of Egypt remain on course to retain their CAF Champions League title after beating Esperance of Tunisia by a solitary goal in the first-leg of their semi-final duel played at Stade Olympique de Rades (Stade Hammadi Agrebi) in Tunis.
Striker Mohamed Sherif scored the lone goal for the Red Devils in the 66th minute to hand them a vital win away from home and set up a slight advantage heading into next week’s return-leg in Cairo.
The second-leg is set to take place at Al-Salam Stadium in Cairo on Saturday, June 26.
The aggregate winner will face either Wydad Casablanca or Kaizer Chiefs in this year’s final.
The match started an hour later than scheduled after the Tunisian police fired ‘gas bombs’ due to clashes with Esperance fans, which resulted in the Al-Ahly players having to abandon their warm-up routine amid a struggle to breathe.
In a tightly contested encounter, chances were limited especially in the opening half when the two teams sized each other up in tactical battles.
Al-Ahly thought they had the lead after half an hour when Sherif tapped the ball home after the keeper spilled a shot from midfielder Hamdy Fathy, but his goal was ruled out for offside.
Four minutes later, the home side had a good chance when Mohamed Ali Ben Romdhane danced past his marker inside the box, but Al-Ahly keeper Mohamed el-Shenawy tapped the ball away from his feet as he tried to tik-tok past him.
Ahly should have been ahead eight minutes after the restart, but winger Mohamed Taher could not tap the ball into the net unmarked at the backpost when a cross was swung in from the right.
But Ahly finally got into the lead in the 66th minute when Sherif tapped home on the second bite of the cherry after his initial tap past the keeper came off the post off a beautiful through pass from Ahly’s Malian midfielder Aliou Dieng.
The home side tried to get their way back into the game, but Ahly saw off the game to set up an advantage heading to the return-leg.
Chiefs stun Wydad in Casablanca
Samir Nurkovic scored with Kaizer Chiefs’ only shot on target to beat Wydad Casablanca 1-0 in a first-leg semi-final match of the CAF Champions League at Stade Mohammed V.
The second-leg is set to take place at FNB Stadium in Soweto on Saturday, June 26.
The Amakhosi put in a gallant defensive display in a game in which the hosts dominated possession and will carry a huge advantage into the second leg on home soil as a result.
Wydad bossed the ball from the get-go and from very early on the signs were that Bruce Bvuma would be a busy man in the Chiefs goal.
Bvuma, who has been the preferred choice of late, showed why that was the case on the half-hour mark when he pulled off a superb save to deny Muaid Ellafi from finding the back of the net with his header attempt.
The stop proved integral to the outcome of the match as Chiefs scored with the next chance in Casablanca. On the counter-attack,
Njabulo Blom found Samir Nurkovic who thumped the ball into the back of the net. The assistant’s flag was initially raised for offside, but after a swift VAR review, the goal rightfully stood.
Bvuma was called into action once more on the cusp of halftime. Ayman el-Hassouni was a handful throughout and the Chiefs shot-stopper had to be at his best to keep out the Moroccan’s free-kick attempt.
El-Hassouni was a constant threat and forced Bvuma into another fine save in the 64th minute. This time the skilful midfielder fizzed a powerful shot on target from range but Bvuma was up to the task.
Wydad continued to dominate proceedings with a wave of relentless pressure, but Chiefs stood firm to take a massive step towards a first Champions League final appearance.
