Some trophies are simply meant for some teams as Al Ahly once again proved their total dominance on the African continent by narrowly triumphing over Tunisian side Esperance Sportive de Tunis 1-0.
The defending champions got a dream start with Togolese midfielder Roger Aholou scoring an own goal in the 4th minute to give the Red Devils the lead. Aholou attempted to clear the ball away after Al Ahly’s corner kick but instead miskicked it and ended at the back of his net.
Al Ahly took advantage of the early goal and put immense and incessant pressure on the Tunisians. The Egyptians’ constant pressure suffocated Esperance leading to the home side recording seven shot attempts with just one on-target. Percy Tau, Hussein El Shahaat and Emam Ashour all missed a chance to put the tie beyond Esperance’s reach.
Esperance endured a very horrible first half with Miguel Cardoso’s side failing to have a single shot on target.
The second half got off to an intense start as expected because the next goal was going to almost decide the match.
Esperance Sportive de Tunis tripled their performance as they knew they needed to score to stand any chance of winning the trophy in Cairo.
Yann Sasse was the only player who came closer to scoring for the much-improved Esperance as his shot went wide of the right post in the 72nd minute.
The Tunisians attacked and attacked but could not create the chances needed to score.
Afsha Magdi nearly doubled Al Ahly’s lead in the 89th minute but his effort crashed against the crossbar to the disappointment of the Red Devils fans.
Al Ahly lifted a record 12th CAF Champions League as they confirmed their superiority on the African continent with a hard-fought win over Esperance Sportive de Tunis.
Al Ahly line up: 4-3-3
Mostafa Shobeir (GK)
Mohamed Hany, Rami Rabia, Mohamed Abdel-Moneim, Karim Fouad.
Akram Tawfik, Marwan Attia, Emam Ashour.
Hussein El-Shahat, Percy Tau, Wessem Abou Ali.
ES Tunis line up : 4-3-3
Amenallah Memmiche
Mohamed Ben Ali, Mohamed Ben Hmida, Yassine Meriah, Mohamed Amine Tougai (DF)
Roger Aholou, Ghaylene Chaaleli, Houssem Teka (MDF)
Yan Sasse, Rodrigo Rodrigues, Houssam Eddine Ghacha (FW)
