The Egyptian Al-Ahly club won the African Champions League title for the tenth time in its history and the second in a row, after its victory 3-0 in the final match of the tournament against the South African team Kaizer Chiefs today, Saturday, at the "Mohammed V" stadium in Casablanca, Morocco.
With this coronation, Al-Ahly will play the African Super Cup final against the Moroccan club Raja Casablanca, which won the African Confederation Cup title last Saturday after beating Algeria's JS Kabylie 2-1 in the final match of the tournament.
🔊 An exceptional comment from @Alimohamedali65 on Mohamed El-Shennawy's celebration with Mahmoud El-Khatib, President of Al-Ahly Club 🇪🇬🏆#Al-Ahly |
#AfricanChampionsFinal #CAFCLFinal |
#CAFCL pic.twitter.com/gqxUTInWMF
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) July 17, 2021
The Kaiser players - who are playing the final for the first time in their history - managed to withstand Al-Ahly, which is heavily experienced and history, as it is the undisputed historical champion of the tournament, and ended the first half with a goalless draw, but they lost Happy Mashian, who was expelled in the 45th minute as a result of violent play after resorting to a referee Video Assistant (VAR).
Moroccan international referee Radwan Gaid saved Burundian international referee Pacific Ndabyhawenimana from a grave mistake, when he made him amend his decision from warning for "recklessness" to expulsion for "violent play" apparent from the South African player.
Violent interference and a yellow card 🟨 ⁉️
Returning to the “VAR” technology, the referee cancels the warning 🟨❌
🟥 Direct expulsion was the appropriate decision for Happy Mashian's violent intervention against Al-Ahly player Akram Tawfik #African Champions League |
#Al-Ahly_Kaizer_Chefs |
#AfricanChampionsFinal #CAFCLFinal |
#CAFCL pic.twitter.com/Rga6F51ROg
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) July 17, 2021
Al-Ahly benefited from the numerical shortage of its rival, who is looking for history, and quickly translated his control of the game and created a defensive gap that enabled the team’s top scorer in the tournament, Mohamed Sharif, to score the first goal of the title holder in the 53rd minute.
Sherif raised his score to 6 goals in second place, two behind the tournament's top scorer, Amir Saidoud, striker of the Algerian youth team Belouizdad.
⚽️🥅 Mohamed Sharif with one touch opens the scoring for Al-Ahly with a wonderful goal, taking advantage of Akram Tawfiq's special pass #African Champions League
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#AfricanChampionsFinal #CAFCLFinal |
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— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) July 17, 2021
The Kaizer Chiefs team collapsed after the goal, which enabled Mohamed Magdy Afsha to add the third goal for Al-Ahly in the 64th minute, and 10 minutes later Amr Al-Sulayya concluded the historic triple of the African champion.
🆕👶#TotalEnergiesCAFCL#KCFCASC@AlAhly pic.twitter.com/BuZeMdzjpz
— TotalEnergies CAFCL - TotalEnergies CAFCC 🏆 (@CAFCLCC) July 17, 2021
With this title, Al-Ahly - who performed last season with an exceptional performance, during which he succeeded in winning 4 titles (the Egyptian League, the African Champions League, the Egypt Cup, and the African Super Cup) - strengthened his record as the African Champions League champion for the tenth time in its history, compared to 5 titles for the closest Rivals Zamalek of Egypt and Mazembe Congolese.
🎙️ Wael Jumaa: Al-Ahly fans are not happy with the league championship and are waiting for the African Champions League 🏆#African Champions League |
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#AfricanChampionsFinal #CAFCLFinal |
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— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) July 17, 2021
Al-Ahly reached the final of the tournament 14 times in its history, and won the runner-up on 4 occasions.
🌟 Al-Ahly 🌟
The Egyptian team retains its title and crowns the African Champions League for the tenth time in its history!
🏆#TotalEnergiesCAFCL |
@AlAhly pic.twitter.com/XcpUQZAh07
— CAF Champions League and Confederation Cup 🏆 (@CAFCLCC_ar) July 17, 2021