Al Ahly succeeded to defeat Wydad AC in the first leg of CAF Champions League Semi-final in Casablanca.

Al Ahly started the game with a frontline pressure to prevent Wydad players from building the play from the back. We succeeded to open the score early as Afsha scored an impressive goal after a defensive lapse from Wydad defense.

The play was tightened in the midfield as the two teams were trying to create scoring chances. The Red Eagles continued the pressure on the opponent, while Wydad depended on the long balls to reach to our net.

El Shenawy was needed in the 14th minute as he blocked the cross and moved it away from our net.

The game went on and we focused to play counterattacks to score the second goal, but the Morrocan defense succeeded to block our attack.

In the 26the minute, our forward Marwan Mohsen shot an impressive ball, but it went over the goal keeper's bar.

Wydad AC kept the pressure again to score the equalizer, but our defenders blocked all the shots and attempts. Also, our captain Mohamed El Shenawy blocked another shot from Ismael El Haddad in the 37th minute to keep our net clean.  

In the 40th minute, the referee blew his whistle to declare a penalty for Wydad as the opponent’s forward dived in our penalty area. The Referee checked the VAR and then confirmed the penalty.

El Shenawy was needed again and succeeded to block the ball to keep his net clean and then the referee blew his whistle announcing the game’s half time.

The second half started and our midfielder Diang was substituted by Hamdy Fathy to continue our pressure on the Moroccan team.

We missed another scoring chance in the 55th minute, as Ajayi passed the ball to Mohsen, but Wydad defense succeeded to block the ball.

We kept our impressive performance and we missed another scoring chance after El Shaahat missed the net in the 57th minute after a brilliant key pass from Ajayi.

We kept our pressure on Wydad, and the referee blew his whistle in the 59th minute to give us a penalty. Ajay’s shot was blocked by the defender’s hand, which led the referee to blow his whistle.

Our Tunisian player Ali Malooul scored the second goal from the spot in the 60th minute as a result of our domination on the game.

Our coach Pitso Mosimane made another substitute in the 70th minute as Geraldo joined the game instead of Marwan Mohsen. Mosimane used his bench again in the 83rd minute as Ahmed El Sheikh joined the game instead of El Shahaat.

The game was tightened once again in the midfield as we kept our frontline pressure and counter-attack strategy. In the 89th minute, Geraldo sent a cross, but the Wydad defense succeeded to keep it away from our forward’s head.

The game went to the final minutes and then the referee blew his final whistle to announce an impressive win for the Red Eagles away from home.