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Buccaneers triumph in Cairo to top Champions League group

football18 January 2025 18:19| © Backpage TXT
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Orlando Pirates defeated Al Ahly 2-1 at the Cairo International Stadium on Saturday evening to secure top spot in Group C of the CAF Champions League.

Both the Buccaneers and the Red Eagles were already guaranteed progression into the knockout phase before this clash, but the result (which sees Pirates become the first team to have claimed three away wins over the Egyptian heavyweights in African club competition) ensures that the South Africans finish in first place and will be seeded for the quarterfinal draw.

Pirates enjoyed a couple of half-chances in the opening quarter hour, before Al Ahly created great headed opportunities for Yasser Ibrahim and Khaled Abdelfattah – one of which was off target and the other forced a sharp save from goalkeeper Sipho Chaine.

The Buccaneers threatened again early in the second half, with Deon Hotto heading wide from Paseko Mako’s cross, before Relebohile Mofokeng put the visitors ahead on 53 minutes.

Thalente Mbatha played a teasing ball into the penalty area which forced an error between Rami Rabia and Abdelfattah, and Mofokeng was on hand to stab home the loose ball for 1-0.

The Red Eagles should have levelled four minutes later when Emam Ashour’s shot-cross from the left teed up Wessam Abou Ali at close range, but Chaine made a brave save to keep his team ahead.

However, the Egyptian hosts were able to level the game on 69 minutes, with Karim El Debes playing a superb diagonal ball over the top to pick out fellow substitute Hussein El Shahat, who provided a classy finish over a stranded Chaine for 1-1.

Ahly dialled up the pressure and sought a second goal, but Pirates were able to change momentum with substitutes of their own, as Mofokeng crossed from the left for Tshegofatso Mabasa – his header struck the underside of the crossbar and may well have crossed the goal line, but Gilberto was on hand to nod home the rebound and ensure a 2-1 advantage for the visitors in the 83rd minute.

The Buccaneers saw out the remainder of the game under growing pressure from the Red Eagles to secure a 2-1 win and top spot on 14 points.

Ahly finished second on 10 points, while Algeria’s CR Belouizdad were third on nine points after an emphatic 6-0 home triumph over Ivorian side Stade d’Abidjan in a concurrent game in Algiers.

Abderrahmane Meziane Bentahar, Mohamed Belkhir (two), Aimen Mahious, Rezki Hamroune and Merouane Zerrouki were on the score sheet for CRB.

Stade finished bottom of the log with just one point.

GROUP A WRAPPED UP 

In earlier Champions League matches on Saturday, Group A wrapped up with DR Congo’s TP Mazembe hammering already-qualified Al Hilal of Sudan 4-0 in Lubumbashi (with goals from Jean Diouf, Ibrahima Keita, Merceil Ngimbi and Suleman Shaibu), as well as a tense 0-0 draw between Tanzania’s Young Africans and Algeria’s MC Alger in Dar es Salaam.

Yanga needed to win the match to overhaul their opponents on the log, but instead it was Al Hilal who topped the standings on 10 points, and they are joined in the quarterfinals by MCA on nine points. Yanga (eight points) and Mazembe (five points) have been eliminated.

The quarterfinals of the Champions League will be played on the last weekend of March and the first weekend of April.

Al Ahly (0) 1 (El Shahat 69’)

Orlando Pirates (0) 2 (Mofokeng 53’, Mabasa/Gilberto 83’)

Al Ahly: Oufa Shobeir, Abdelfattah (Hany 64’), Rabia, K. Nedved (Tawfik 82’), Brimil (El Solia 73’), Ashour, Afsha (El Shatah 64’), Y. Ibrahim, El Saaiy (El Debes 64’), A. Kouka, Abou Ali

Pirates: Chaine, Lebitso (Ndlozi 56’), Sesane, Sibisi, Mako, Makhaula, Mbatha (Dlamini 77’), Mofokeng, Maswanganyi (Rasebotja 77’), Hotto (Gilberto 80’), Makgopa (Mabasa 80’)

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