Petro and Wydad are the first to qualify.. Al-Ahly holds its position in the "African Champions"

Petro Atletico of Angola and Wydad Casablanca of Morocco became the first to qualify for the quarter-finals of the African Champions League, after the first victory over his compatriot Sagrada Esperanza 3-0 yesterday in Luanda in the fourth round of Group C competitions.

Al-Ahly of Egypt, the defending champion, complicated its position with a second consecutive loss against South Africa's Mamelodi Sundowns, 0-1, in the first group competitions.

In the first match, Petro Atletico continued his strong start in the competition and achieved his third victory in a row, consolidating his position at the top of the group with 10 points, one point ahead of Wydad Casablanca, which he joined after winning 1-0 on Saturday against its Egyptian host, Zamalek, who came out empty-handed after his balance froze at Two points in third place, similar to Sagrada Esperanza, who finished last with one point.

The Angolan champion settled the meeting in the first half, as he opened the scoring in the fifteenth second through Brazilian Thiago Azulao with a shot from inside the area after a cross from his compatriot Gleeson, and scored the double when he followed a rebound from Sagrada goalkeeper after a shot from Pedro Pessoa (44).

And Eriko Castro consolidated the score in the third minute of overtime with a penalty kick.

Sundowns need a point

In the second match, Al-Ahly complicated its march towards retaining its title for the third year in a row, losing to its host Mamelodi Sundowns 0-1.

Namibian Peter Shaloli scored the winning goal to put his team ahead in the quarter-finals, after raising its score to 10 points in the lead and needing one point to overcome the group stage, while Al-Ahly's balance froze at four points after receiving the second loss against the South African champion.

And Al-Ahly, the title holder 10 times (a record), was equal with Al-Marikh and Al-Hilal, the Sudanese that they meet in the last fifth and sixth rounds.

The host took possession of the ball and controlled the beginning of the match, in light of the decline of Al-Ahly players.

With the passage of time, the offensive pressure increased, and the attacks varied from depth and both sides. Muthubi Mavala shot from the edge of the penalty area, hit the head of Yasser Ibrahim and the crossbar and went out to a corner, then arrived cross to find Shalolili, who is free of censorship, and he shot it to the left of international goalkeeper Mohamed El-Shennawy (23).

Al-Ahly players abandoned their defensive caution and turned to the attack in an effort to equalize.

Tunisian left-back Ali Maaloul, coming from behind, hit the ball over the crossbar, while the counter-attacks posed a threat to El-Shennawy's goal.

Al-Shennawi saved his goal from a second goal by blocking Hashem Domingo's shot from inside the area (63), and another for the alternative, Aubrey Modiba, over the crossbar (68).

Al-Shennawi returned to save his goal from an investigator by blocking the shot of the Slovak substitute Pavol Shafranko, who is completely alone in the goal (73), and the substitute Ahmed Abdel Qader responded with a shot from outside the penalty area that passed next to the left post of Kennedy Mweni's goal (76).

Substitute Hossam Hassan, who is free of censorship, missed the opportunity to equalize after he failed to take advantage of Maaloul's cross, and turned it into a header that passed far from the goal (83).

Esperance settled Tunisia's Clasico - Tunisia's Esperance regained top spot in Group C with a goal difference against Algeria's Chabab Belouizdad, after the "Classico" decided Tunisian football by defeating its host Etoile du Sahel 2-0 at Hamadi Al-Aqrabi Stadium in Rades.

The two teams tied in the previous round, and the "Bab Soueika" team raised its score to 8 points and led by two goals against Belouizdad, to approach the quarter-finals, while the balance of "Jewel of the Coast" was frozen.

The first half came in lackluster, as the first chance came in the 32nd minute after a powerful shot from the Algerian defender of Esperance Elias Cheti, which was brilliantly removed by Etoile’s goalkeeper Ali El-Gamal.

Esperance continued its advantage in the second half, in return for the fruitless movements of the host team, which was playing under the supervision of its new coach, Saad Jarda, the Chebbi Khalifa, the veteran Frenchman Roger Lemerre.

The other Algerian defender, Abdelkader Badran, translated the advantage of "Al-Makkkha" into progress when he hit the ball to the right of goalkeeper El-Gamal after a long pass from Moroccan midfielder Saber Bougrin from a free kick (66).

Muhammad Ali bin Ramadan strengthened the progress of Esperance, seeking its fifth title in the competition, with a long shot that hit the right post and landed in the net of the coastal star (77).

- A first loss for Raja - In the second group, Moroccan Raja failed to follow up on its successive victories and raised it to four when it fell to its host Houria of Guinea 1-2 in Conakry.

The start of the "Green Eagle" came strong, as he opened the scoring through Hamid Haddad, who easily followed the ball into the net after a cross from a corner kick by captain Mohsen Metwally (19).

The progress of Raja did not last only seven minutes, as Burkinabe Okansi Mandela took advantage of a defensive error, and the ball hit him from the left side, he set it up for himself and hit it weakly into the Moroccan net (26).

Three minutes later, the Malian referee, Boubou Traore, awarded a penalty kick to the hosts after a mistake by Abdelilah Madkour on Boniface Haba.

The group cards were mixed after Algeria's ES Setif defeated its South African guest, Amazulu, 2-0 at the "July 5" stadium in Algiers.

Raja remained in the lead with 9 points, three points ahead of ES Setif and Amazulu, while Houria scored its first points in last place.

Al-Wefaq dominated the events and ended the first half with a clear lead with two goals, the first when Ahmed Kandoussi passed a forehand ball to Riad Benayad, who penetrated into the area and shot out of reach of Amazulu goalkeeper Feli Mutua (11), and the second after a series of through passes, the ball reached Beniadah, who shot a creeper and blocked it. The goalkeeper died to get ready in front of the rushing Akram Djahnit, so he followed her into the net (45 + 1).

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