Ahly 2-0 Ajax Cape Town

CAIRO (GoPharaohs.com) - Ahly remained unbeaten in the African Champion’s League Group A after three arounds. The Egyptian champions defeated their South African counterparts, Ajax Cape Town, on Friday thanks to two goals from young captain Ahmed El Sayed and striker Emad Moteb.

The African Club of the Century kicked off the match with a depleted squad, especially in midfield. Egyptian International Mohamed Shawky picked up his second yellow card against Enyimba and wasn’t eligible for Ajax’s showdown. Ahmed Hassan was absent for the same reason, and new Ghanian signing Akwetey Mensah was out with an ACL injury. Manuel Jose was left with limited options, namely the youngster Hossam Ashour playing alongside the energetic Hassan Mustafa. Ahly dominated throughout the first half pressing Ajax for an early goal, which proved fruitful in the 8th minute. A Gilberto corner kick was cleared by the South African defense, with Barakat latching onto the clearance and Moeneeb Josephs managing to parry the ball away only for Ahmed El Sayed to head it back into the empty net. The reds continued to dominate and were awarded a penalty kick ten minutes to half-time when Josephs took down Barakat in the penalty area. The keeper, however, redeemed himself and managed to keep Ajax in the game by saving Emad Moteb’s poor effort.

In the second half, the Egyptian outfit seemed confident and, as a result, started to lose domination. The South Africans pressed for an equalizer, but poor finishing and slow build-ups proved harmless to El Hadary. On the other side, Emad Moteb had a successful run in Ajax’s before unleashing a rocket from the edge of the box that struck the post. Meanwhile, Hassan Mustafa was cautioned for diving in the penalty area. Five minutes from time, Manuel Jose opted to award new signing and Angolan national team striker, Flavio Amado, his club debut. The striker replaced Abu Treka, and Shady Mohamed replaced Islam El Shater. The remainder of the second half in Seka El Hadeed stadium saw very limited action, until deep into injury time when Shady Mohamed passed to Moteb, who rounded his marker and struck the ball from the edge of the box into the back of the net, far from Joseph’s reach.

Ahly lead Group A with nine points from three matches, Ajax are in second place with two points from three. Rajaa and Enyimba, who are last in the group each with one point from two matches, are to play in Casablanca over the weekend. If Rajaa and Enyimba were to tie, Ahly qualify automatically to the Champions League semi-finals.