CAF Champions League: Wydad and Mamelodi neutralize, Al Ahly crushes Esperance Tunis
South Africa's Percy Tau scored twice in the semi-final first leg against Esperance Tunis on May 12, 2023. © Courtesy of CAF
Text by: Valentin Berg Follow
3 min
Wydad Casablanca and Mamelodi Sundowns failed to decide (0-0) in the semi-final first leg of the CAF Champions League, this Saturday, May 13 in Casablanca. In the other match, the Egyptians of Al Ahly crushed Esperance Tunis (3-0) this Friday, May 12, and already set foot in the final of the competition.
Advertising
Read more
End of the first act of these CAF Champions League semi-finals. The suspense remains intact between Wydad Casablanca and Mamelodi Sundowns (0-0), who left on a blank score at the end of a match especially marked by two red cards awarded to the South Africans.
Real sensation of this 2023 edition of the competition, the South Africans of Mamelodi Sundowns first suffered a good strike from Mohammed Ounajem, well countered by Abdelmounaim Boutouil (3rd). Namibian Peter Shalulile then thought he had started his team's game by rattling the net a handful of minutes later (10th), but his goal was quickly overturned due to offside. Midfielder Teboho Mokoena tried his luck with a long-range strike (37th), but the Moroccan goalkeeper deflected his attempt well. Rather domineering, the "Brazilians" of Pretoria experienced a blow just before half-time: Neo Maema, author of a dangerous foul, was sent back to the locker room by the referee (43rd), leaves his teammates outnumbered for the second half.
Forced not to expose himself against the Moroccans, Mamelodi applied himself to contain the opposing attempts in the second half, such as El Moutaraji's strike well repelled by goalkeeper Ronwen Williams to preserve the draw (65th). But lacking realism in front of goal, Wydad was unable to take advantage of its numerical advantage to take the lead before the return match. Despite a second red card given to Chilean Marcelo Allende following a dangerous action (93rd), the South Africans neutralized Wydad Casablanca at the end of a very complicated meeting (0-0) and maintain the suspense before the semi-final return, on May 20.
Masandawana show great effort and team spirit under tricky conditions in Casablanca! Time to head back home and gear up for the next one! 👆
Wydad AC 0⃣➖0⃣ Mamelodi Sundowns#Sundowns #DownsLive #TotalEnergiesCAFCL pic.twitter.com/XEvzWNGITY
— Mamelodi Sundowns FC (@Masandawana) May 13, 2023
Al Ahly crushes Esperance
In the other first leg of these semifinals, the Egyptians of Al Ahly made only a mouthful of Esperance Tunis, this Friday, May 12 at the Olympic Stadium of Radès. South African Percy Tau opened the scoring in the first moments of the match (8th, 0-1), before offering himself a double at the beginning of the second half (55th, 0-2). Esperance tried to react several times, especially with the shots of Zaddem (13th), Ben Romdhane (35th), Tougaï (59th) or Wahabi (81st) but without ever managing to find the fault against the Egyptian goalkeeper.
Egypt's Kahraba finally completed his team's demonstration by scoring a third goal (75th, 0-3) to end the suspense between the two teams. Thanks to this resounding success, Al Ahly is already in an ideal position to play another final even before the return match against the Tunisians, on May 19, and is a little closer to a possible 11th title in the CAF Champions League.
Another incredible night in Rades 🦅 pic.twitter.com/JYg2fVOXkH
— Al Ahly SC 🇬🇧 (@AlAhlyEnglish) May 12, 2023
The results of the semi-finals first leg
Espérance Tunis (Tunisia) - Al Ahly SC (Egypt) : 0-3
Wydad Casablanca (Morocco) - Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa) : 0-0
The program of the semi-finals return
19 May: Al Ahly SC (Egypt) - Espérance Tunis (Tunisia)
May 20: Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa) v Wydad Casablanca (Morocco)
Newsletter Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
Read on on the same topics:
- Football
- CAF Champions League