Al Ahly have secured a place in the Caf Champions League final after a 2-2 draw with ES Setif at Stade du 5 Juillet in Algiers on Saturday night.
The result means Pitso Mosimane’s Red Devils remain on course to win an unprecedented third successive Caf Champions League title – and a record extending 11th overall.
They will face Wydad Casablanca in the final in Morocco on Monday 30 May, with the Red Castle securing their spot on Friday night when they drew 1-1 with Angola’s Petro de Luanda to close out a 4-1 aggregate triumph.
The clash of Ahly and Wydad will be a repeat of the 2017 Champions League final, which was won 2-1 on aggregate by the Moroccan side. The Casablanca club were also regular (and antagonising) opponents for Mosimane when he was in charge of South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns.
Any slim hope Setif had of mounting a comeback in this semifinal were quickly extinguished, as a fast-starting Ahly claimed the lead in just the second minute: Ahmed Abdelkader played a neat one-two with Percy Tau before stabbing a shot beyond goalkeeper Sofiana Khedairia to make it 1-0 on the night and 5-0 overall.
The Black Eagles were stunned by the early strike but gradually worked their way back into the game and began to assert some attacking pressure, particularly down the flanks, where they often managed to double up on Ahly’s fullbacks.
They were finally rewarded with a goal in injury time before the interval, with Ahmed Kendouci cutting inside from the right of the penalty area and firing home a left-footed shot via the underside of the crossbar to make it 1-1 on the night and 1-5 on aggregate.
The Algerian hosts kept up the pressure in the second half and were rewarded with a second goal just past the hour mark, with Riad Benayad breaking free down the left flank before moving inside and scoring with a dipping long-range effort that probably should have been saved by Ahly goalkeeper Mohamed El Shenawy.
The visitors looked to control the ball more and take the sting out of Setif’s play after the second goal, and they succeeded in frustrating their hosts with short passing patterns which offered no real threat in attack.
That was until injury time when Tau – providing his fourth assist of the tie – teed up substitute Mohamed Sherif to net with a shot which was only half-saved by the keeper and dribbled over the line to end the game at 2-2 on the night and 6-2 overall in favour of Ahly.
ES Setif (1) 2 (Kendouci 45+2’, Benayad 61’)
Al Ahly (1) 2 (Abdelkader 2’, Sherif 90+2’)
First leg 0-4 – Al Ahly won 6-2 on aggregate
ES Setif:Khedairia, Khotir-Ziti, Laribi, Nemdil, Ferhani, Djahnit, Boutiche, Deghmoum (Motrani 62’), Kendouci (Debbari 83’), Djabou, Benayad (Bakrar 73’)
Al Ahly:El Shenawy, Hany, Yasser Ibrahim (Ashraf 90’), Abdelmonem, Maaloul, El Shahat (Rabia 68’), Fathi, Dieng (Koka 86’), Mohamed (Sherif 86’), Abdelkader (Afsha 68’), Tau