Al Ahly reached the quarter-finals of the Egyptian Cup after defeating Abou Qir Fertilizers SC 2-1 tonight at Borg Al Arab stadium.

Al Ahly controlled the game from its beginning as our players were keen to take the lead early in the game. 

In the 10th minute, Badj shot the ball after he received a long ball from Hamdy Fathy, but the opponent’s keeper succeeded to keep it away from his net.

We kept our pressure as Hamdy Fathy shot a strong ball, but it went out for a corner kick after hitting Abou Qir’s defender. In the 15th minute, an impressive screamer from our veteran Walid Soliman gave us the early lead.

In the 26th minute, the referee awarded the Eagles a penalty kick after the ball hit Mohamed Reeo’s hand. 
The referee checked the VAR before giving his final decision.  He showed the second yellow card for Abou Qir’s player and Walid succeeded to add the second goal from the spot. 

 The Red Eagles kept their tempo up as we wanted to put the ball in the net for the third time.  We missed a scoring chance in the 32nd minute after Hamdy’s shot was blocked by the opponent’s goalkeeper. 

In the 38th minute, we conceded a goal as a result of Kervala’s touch. The game then was tightened in the midfield until the end of the first half. 

 The second half started with a moderate tempo, as our players wanted to control the game to minimize the opponent’s attacking pressure as they were seeking for the equalizer. In the 58th minute, our head coach Pitso Mosimane used the bench as Afsha joined the game instead of our youngster Ahmed Koka. 

The Red Eagles continued the pressure and we missed a dangerous scoring opportunity, as Badji missed the net after a brilliant pass from Afsha. 

We missed another scoring opportunity in the 66th minute as Afsha’s shot was blocked by the goalkeeper. 
Mosimane used the bench once again in the 70th minute, as Dieng and El Shahaat joined the field instead of El Sheikh and our Veteran Walid Soliman, who was forced to leave due to an injury. 

The game was tightened once again at the midfield, as both teams were trying to avoid conceding any goals. In the 82nd minute, Marwan joined the game instead of Badji. El Shahaat then shot a strong ball, but it went over the bar. 
The game went on to its last minutes, and then the referee blew his final whistle to declare that we reached the semi-final of the Egyptian Cup.