Al Ahly showed their class in the second-half after the Soweto giants were reduced to 10 men
Al Ahly successfully defended their Caf Champions League crown after securing a 3-0 victory over Kaizer Chiefs in the final, which took place at the Stade Mohammed V in Morocco on Saturday.
Goals from Mohamed Sherif, Mohamed Magdi Afsha and Amr El Solia inspired the Egyptian giants to a well-deserved win over their South African opponents, who were reduced to 10 men following the dismissal of Happy Mashiane in the 45th minute.
The Amakhosi were making their maiden appearance in the final and had a decent start to the match – pressing high with their attackers Samir Nurkovic, Mashiane and Nkosingiphile Ngcobo showing good movement in Al Ahly’s half.
The first shot on target of the match went to Amakhosi, but Nurkovic’s curling effort was easily saved by goalkeeper Mohamed El Shenawy, who was well-positioned.
Al Ahly took control of the encounter after the half-hour mark with El Solia seeing a lot of the ball in midfield. The 32-year-old midfielder played a smart through pass for Ali Maaloul in the left flank, but the Tunisia international’s low cross-come-shot was well-saved by Daniel Akpeyi.
Coach Stuart Baxter took charge of Chiefs for the first time after receiving his South African work permit and the experienced British coach opted for Akpeyi between the sticks.
The Nigeria goalkeeper, who got the nod ahead of Itumeleng Khune and Bruce Bvuma, had played six matches without conceding a single goal in this season’s tournament before the final.
Chiefs ended the first half on a bad note as they were reduced to 10 players, with Mashiane being shown a straight red card for a reckless tackle on marauding right-back Akram Tawfik following a VAR check.
The score was 0-0 at the interval and Baxter made a change prior to the start of the second half – pulling out Ngcobo and he introduced Khama Billiat, 2016 Caf Champions League title winner with Mamelodi Sundowns.
Tawfik, who was making dangerous overlapping runs, played a defence-splitting pass for Sherif and the tournament’s top scorer scored his sixth goal in the competition to make it 1-0 to Al Ahly in the 53rd minute.
Sherif was involved when Al Ahly went 2-0 up in the 64th minute as he set up Afsha, who then curled the ball into the top left corner – beating Akpeyi hands down.
Chiefs were looking disjointed at the back with Sherif tormenting the defence and he grabbed his second assist when his backheel pass was turned home by El Solia to extend Al Ahly’s lead to 3-0 with 17 minutes left.
El Solia’s well-taken goal sealed Al Ahly’s emphatic 3-0 victory on the night with the Cairo giants having taken advantage of their numerical superiority over Chiefs.
The win saw the Red Devils clinch a record-extending 10th Caf Champions League title and they qualify for this year’s Fifa Club World Cup.
Mosimane was vindicated for his big pre-match call, as he dropped the influential Aliou Dieng to the bench and plumped for Hamdi Fathi instead.