Al-Ahly of Egypt imposes a draw on Raja Casablanca and reaches the Champions League semi-finals

Al-Ahly of Egypt continued its successful campaign to defend the African Champions League title, which it won in the past two editions, after winning a 1-1 draw with its Moroccan host Raja Casablanca, in the second leg of the quarter-finals of the continental competition.

Al-Ahly benefited from its 2-1 victory in the first leg match that was held in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, last Saturday, to win the nomination paper for the semi-final round in the tournament, which holds the record number of times won with 10 titles, by winning 3/2 in the total of the home and away matches. .

Raja advanced early with a goal signed by Fabrice Nujouma in the fifth minute, before Ali Maaloul missed a penalty kick for Al-Ahly in the 16th minute.

And soon Al-Ahly compensated for the missed penalty, after its defender Mohamed Abdel Moneim scored the equalizer in the 44th minute.

Thus, Al-Ahly hit a semi-final date with Algeria's ES Setif, the competition champion in 1988 and 2014, who overcame the Tunisian Esperance obstacle.

Al-Ahly maintained its superiority over Raja, the defending champion in 1989, 1997 and 1999, after having previously defeated it on penalties in the African Super match that took place between the two teams in the Qatari capital, Doha, last December.

Al-Ahly also maintained its record free of defeats in the playoffs of the Champions League for the thirteenth consecutive match, as its last loss in the knockout stage of the championship dates back to the 2019 edition, when it received its historical loss zero / 5 against Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa in the first leg of the round. The eight.

For his part, Raja continued its inability to achieve any victory over Al-Ahly since it beat Al-Ahly 2-1 at (Mohamed V) Stadium in Casablanca, which hosted Friday’s meeting, in the group stage of the competition version in 2002.

Al-Ahly’s confrontation with ES Setif will be the third between the two teams in the semi-finals of the Champions League, where they met for the first time in the competition version in 1988, and the Algerian team decided it in its favor by winning on penalties, before the date between them was renewed in the same round in 2018, which Al-Ahly decided this time by winning 3 / 2 in aggregate, home and away.

The match began with an expected attack from Raja, supported by the ground and the public, who translated his early control of the match by scoring a goal through Fabrice Nujoma in the fifth minute.

Nujoma received a cross pass from the right side by Abdelelah Madkour, to hit a neat header, putting the ball into the net, to the right of Al-Ahly goalkeeper Mohamed El-Shennawy.

Al-Ahly pressed quickly in search of the equalizer, and Taher Mohamed passed a cross from the left side to Aliou Diang, who hit a header that went to a goal kick in the seventh minute.

Raja responded with a quick attack in the next minute that ended with a shot from inside the area by Hamid Haddad, which went over the crossbar.

Al-Ahly’s pressure resulted in him receiving a penalty, which came after resorting to the video assistant referee (VAR) technique, which proved the existence of a disability from Mohsen Metwally to Hussein Al-Shahat inside the Raja penalty area.

Ali Maaloul executed the penalty kick, placing the ball to the right of Anas Al-Zeniti, the Raja goalkeeper, who brilliantly saved the Tunisian player's shot, before the defense dispersed the ball to a corner that was not used.

Hussein Al-Shahat hit a crawling ball in the 21st minute, which passed next to the right post, before Amr Al-Sulayya fired another shell from outside the area, which Al-Zeniti grabbed twice.

Al-Ahly gained possession of the ball, but ineffective on the goal, in light of the good defensive positioning of the Raja defense and the slow movements of Al-Ahly players in carrying out the attacks.

The 44th minute came to witness the equalizing goal for Al-Ahly through Mohamed Abdel Moneim, who followed a corner kick from the right by Maaloul, for the Egyptian team player to head a wonderful header, putting the ball to the left of Al-Zeniti, who was satisfied with looking at it while it was in his net.

Raja tried to re-advance during the lost time for the first half, which amounted to 3 minutes, but to no avail, so the half ended in a positive tie.

The second half began with an intense attack by Raja, and Nujoma followed a free kick that was carried out from the right side, which the defense removed in a wrong way, to hit directly, but put it far from the goal in the 47th minute.

Percy Tao missed a sure chance to score the second goal for Al-Ahly in the 50th minute, when he received a through pass from Hussein Al-Shahat, but he shot recklessly, so the ball was easy to reach in the hands of Anas Al-Zeniti.

Raja responded with a forehand pass in the 54th minute, as the ball reached Hamid Haddad, who passed it to Nujoma, who hit the ball over the crossbar.

Raja got more than one free kick from a good place on the field, but Mohsen Metwally failed to translate it into goals, before the same player threatened El-Shennawy's goal with a shot in the 64th minute, which El-Shennawy had on the lookout.

Raja kept the ball in most of the periods, but failed to pose a threat to Al-Ahly’s goal in light of the defensive solidity that characterized the defense of the guests, before Zakaria Al-Habti surprised everyone with a shot from inside the area in the 82nd minute, it went to a corner that resulted in nothing.

Muhammad Al-Nahiri took a corner kick from the right side, which Haddad met with a direct shot from inside the area in the 86th minute, which missed the goal. Al-Ahly responded with an uncontrolled shot from Muhammad Sharif in the next minute.

Mohamed Zuraida missed a real chance to score another goal for Raja and push the match to penalty kicks in the fifth minute of lost time, when the ball was prepared in front of him while he was facing the goal directly, but Al-Shennawi ably saved the ball to keep Al-Ahly’s captain in a tie and lead his team to the golden square.

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