Al Ahly secured a record-extending 11th CAF Champions League title with a 3-2 aggregate win over Wydad Atheltic Club.
Ahly came into the game with the tie at 2-1 from the first leg in Cairo where Percy Tau took centre-stage in the win.
The late away goal from Wydad to take to the Stade Mohamed V left everyone guessing who would be crowned champions, and while the game was hardly a classic, it was not short of drama on the evening.
With Percy Tau and most of the attackers on display, fairly muted by the ultra-defensive style of play from the home side, added to the ‘dark arts’ of North African football, the officiating and fighting were some of the bigger talking points of the opening half.
Had it not been for the Yahia Attiyat Allah finding the net with a whipped set piece which Mohamed Ounajem looked to have got a touch to but eventually didn’t. It was a goal that sparked the stadium into emphatic scenes as the away goal from last week put the in the driving seat.
And for the rest of the half, stoppages, niggling fouls and winding up the away side was the order of the day, as Ahly players, and more notably Hussein El Shahat, looked to have lost composure.
It was no surprise to see him eventually replaced by Mohamed Afsha but the Red Devils looked short of ideas in the second half, and as it appeared everything was heading towards the home side retaining their title, and making it four in their history… Mohamed Abdelmonem rewrote the script.
Ali Maaloul’s corner ten minutes from time was headered home with a looping effort beyond Youssef El Motie which put them 3-2 ahead and with the game opening up, they always looked more threatening as Wydad needed to chase the game.
But the scoreline remained the same as they claimed revenge from the 2021/22 final and restored their status as the Champions of Africa, for the 11th time.
It marked Tau’s first with the club and second of his career, having won the maiden Sundowns crown in 2016 under then-coach Pitso Mosimane.
