African giants Al Ahly of Egypt completed a dramatic comeback in Group B, outplaying Al Hilal of Sudan 3‑0 on Saturday to clinch a CAF Champions League quarter‑finals place. Mahmoud Kahraba gave the Red Devils the lead 25 minutes into the final matchday showdown before a sell‑out crowd of 50,000 at Cairo International Stadium. In the second half, substitute Hussein El Shahat scored twice, ensuring that the record‑ten‑time African champions reached the knockout stage for the seventh straight season.
Al Ahly entered the match three points behind Hilal and needed either a 1‑0 win or a victory by more than one goal to join already‑qualified Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa in the last eight. They swept aside Hilal, who offered little in attack, but after four matchdays the outlook had been grim for Ahly and their Swiss coach, Marcel Koller. A 5‑2 drubbing by Sundowns in Pretoria had left them trailing Hilal by five points and facing a humiliating early exit from the premier African club competition.
Kahraba had scored a hat‑trick in a 4‑0 matchday‑five win over Coton Sport in Cameroon, but a home win for Hilal over Sundowns the following day would have eliminated the Egyptian side. Hilal and Sundowns drew 1‑1, and with minutes left in Omdurman the Sudanese were awarded a penalty; Ronwen Williams saved Ather el‑Tahir’s spot‑kick, and the points were shared. The draw gave Ahly an escape route, which they seized to finish second on head‑to‑head records after a 1‑0 away loss to Hilal two months earlier.
The deadlock was broken when Kahraba brilliantly controlled a pass from Mohamed Abdelkader and lofted the ball over 19‑year‑old Hilal goalkeeper Issa Fofana. Marwan Attia thought he had doubled the lead ten minutes into the second half, but his shot struck the post and Fofana scrambled the ball to safety under pressure from Kahraba. The introduction of El Shahat swung the match decisively in favor of the home side; he scored in the 64th and 81st minutes. A brilliant pass from South African Percy Tau set up the second goal, and El Shahat later cut inside and slammed the ball past Fofana to complete the scoring.
In Pretoria, Sundowns beat Coton 2‑1 to finish four points above Ahly. Marie Mekong conceded an own‑goal just before half‑time, and Ethiopian Abubeker Nassir added a late second. AFP.
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