SAN FRANCISCO, November 28, (THEWILL) – Egyptian Premier League giants Al Ahly SC achieved a historic 2-1 victory over domestic arch rivals Zamalek SC in the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Champions League Final on Friday at the Cairo Stadium. The win, their ninth continental title, cemented the Red Devils’ legacy as the true kings of African Football.
Ahly’s opener was an early goal. The game was only five minutes old when Tunisian left back Ali Maaloul lifted a peach of a cross for midfielder Amr Mohamed El Soleya to head into the net.
Zamalek was not content to sit deep and soak up the pressure while Al Ahly dictated the pace in the middle of the park, so they went in search of an equaliser. Chances came and went for both sides until the 31st minute.
Mahmoud Abdelrazek Hassan Fadlala, simply known as Shikabala, took control of the ball from his position in the midfield and dribbled down the right flank at pace before cutting into space and drilling a shot past El Mohamed El Shennawy in the Ahly goal.
The leveller gave Zamalek a boost and though Ahly still created chances, Jaime Pacheco’s charges more than matched them and were on the ascendancy for the rest of the first period but no more goals were scored before the break.
The second half began with the introduction of DR Congolese forward Kasongo Kabongo in place of the Zamalek goal scorer, Shikabala. It showed the intent of Pacheco, favouring Kabongo reputed for phenomenal speed down the lane.
But, it was his teammate, midfielder Ahmed Sayed who missed one of the most dangerous chances of the final. In the 65th minute, “Zizo”, as Sayed is popularly known, struck the left upright with a powerful shot and the chance was wasted.
Both sides continued to look for the advantage as they exchanged the ball for the next couple of minutes with the score still level at one all and the clock hurtling towards the end of regulation time.
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Just as it was beginning to seem like the final may be decided by extra time or the nervy outcome of penalty shootouts, Ahly’s attacking midfielder Mohamed Magdy Afsha blazed home in the 85th minute what turned out to be the winning goal.
The victory in this historic all-Egypt final means Pitso Mosimane’s side are CAF champions for the ninth time winning the continental trophy they last won in 2013 and for which they were runners up in 2017 and 2018.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
