Al Ahly secured qualification to the CAF Champions League group stage after achieving a comfortable 6-1 victory over Niger’s USGN in the second leg of the round of 32, winning the tie 7-2 on aggregate.
Kahraba and Afsha were on a good run of form tonight and helped the Red Eagles book their ticket to the Champions League group stage for the seventh consecutive time.
First Half
The Red Eagles started the game with frontline pressure as we were searching for the early opener. Our first chance came 30 seconds after the kick-off's whistle, as Mohamed Sherif missed the net. Amr El Soulia sent a brilliant pass to Walid Soliman, who delivered a ground cross that reached Sherif, but our striker’s shot went to a goal kick.
We kept our pressure on the visitors' defense and we needed only 9 minutes to find the back of the net.
Akram made a great effort on the right flank and won the ball back from USGN's player, sending a brilliant cross to Sherif who received the ball and fired a low shot that cruised past the goalkeeper, making the score 1-0.
The Red Eagles kept piling on the pressure as we were keen to kill off the tie early in the game.
With 17 minutes on the clock, Ali Maaloul passed the ball to Kahraba, who sent a good cross inside the box with a sensational touch.
Afsha then reached the ball and blasted a strong header to give us a 2-0 lead.
USGN players tried to narrow the gap in the score, but our defenders stood their ground and blocked their attempts.
In the 22nd minute, Ali Lotfy was needed, as he deflected Abdul Karim Mamadou's shot to keep his net clean.
We were close to scoring again in the 30th minute when Ayman Ashraf sent a long ball to Sherif, who received the ball and went to a one-on-one situation, but his shot was blocked by the keeper.
Four minutes later, we conceded a goal as USGN’s player delivered a cross to Issoufou Hinsa, whose efforts found Lotfy's upper right corner to make the result 2-1.
Five minutes before half-time, Soliman was awarded a foul at the edge of the box due to a late challenge from USGN's goalkeeper.
Ali Maaloul stood behind the ball and curled it inside the box. Soliman then blasted a strong header towards the net, but the keeper stopped it. Badr Benoun followed the ball and converted it towards the net, but once again the keeper was there to keep it away. Finally, the ball reached Kahraba, who fired a strong shot but it hit the crossbar and went away.
The minutes went by and the first half ended with the Red Eagles leading at the break.
Second Half
The second half kicked off with the Red Eagles controlling the game, searching for the third goal to avoid any unpleasant scenarios.
In the 47th minute, Soliman sent a beautiful pass to Sherif, who went on a one-on-one situation and dribbled past the keeper and then failed to the ground, but the referee declared a goal kick for USGN.
In the 58th minute, Afsha managed to put his name again on the game’s scoring sheet. El Soulia slipped the ball through the center, and Afsha dribbled past the defender with his first touch, before finding the back of the net with a staggering shot.
In the 60th minute, Soliman picked up a serious injury in his head after collapsing with USGN’s goalkeeper.
Soliman was stretched out of the field and Hussien El Shahat joined the game instead of him in the 62nd minute.
Three minutes later, El Shahat announced his arrival by scoring the fourth goal. Kahraba, who was in a good run of form tonight, sent a sensational cross to El Shahat. Our winger then dribbled past the goalkeeper with a magical touch and put the ball into the empty net.
Five minutes later, Kahraba finally put his name on the game's scoring sheet. The winger sprinted towards the opponent’s box, and from their final third, he fired a strong shot to their bottom corner to make the score 5-1.
Having controlled the game’s tempo, Mosimane used his bench again as Hamdy Fathy and Taher Mohamed Taher joined the game instead of Amr El Soulia and Mohamed Sherif.
Our head coach made his final substitutions as Mahmoud Wahid and Ramy Rabia joined the game instead of Ali Maaloul and Badr Benoun.
Fathy did not need a long time to show what he can do. Our midfielder blasted a staggering shot from outside of the box to extend the result to 6-1 in the final minutes of the game.
The minutes continued to tick by and the Red Eagles kept trying to add more goals until the referee blew his final whistle to announce our qualification to the CAF Champions League group stage.
Match Sheet:
Venue: Al Ahly WE Al Salam Stadium.
Referee: Ahmed Imtiaz Hiralal.
Occasion: second leg of the CAF Champions League round of 32.
Starting line-up: (Ali Lotfy - Badr Benoun - Ali Maaloul - Akram Tawfik - Ayman Ashraf - Aliou Dieng - Amr El Soulia - Walid Soliman – Afsha – Kahraba - Mohamed Sherif).
Substitutions:
Hussien El Shahat (Soliman) 67’
Hamdy Fathy (El Soulia) 76’
Taher Mohamed Taher (Sherif) 76’
Mahmoud Wahid (Maaloul) 83’
Ramy Rabia (Benoun) 83’
Goals:
Sherif 9’
Afsha 17’
Hinsa 35’ (USGN)
Afsha 58’
El Shahat 64’
Kahraba 69’
Fathy 89’
Yellow Cards:
Benoun
