Al-Ahly of Egypt, the holder of the last two editions, qualified for the semi-finals of the African Champions League after imposing a 1-1 draw on its Moroccan host Raja Casablanca in the second leg of the quarter-finals.

Al-Ahly took advantage of its 2-1 first-leg win in Cairo to qualify for the match against Algeria's ES Setif, who overthrew Tunisia's Esperance.

Raja opened the scoring early to the enthusiastic encouragement of more than 45,000 fans in Casablanca, with Fabrice Ngoma's header in the fifth minute.

Mohamed Zuraida cut the ball from Al-Ahly midfielder Alio Diang and transferred it to Abdel-Ilah Mazkour, to send a cross pass around Ngoma into the net from close range.

The hosts retreated despite the goal and the visitors could quickly equalize through Diang and Amr Al-Sulayya.

Al-Ahly received a penalty kick after reviewing the video when Hussein Al-Shahat was fouled, but goalkeeper Anas Al-Zeniti saved Ali Maaloul's kick in the 17th minute.

Al-Ahly passes next to signing the second goal! # African Champions League # Raja_Al-Ahly # Al-Ahly_Raja pic.twitter.com/W3EP3cyxsA

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Al-Ahly’s pressure resulted in the equalizing goal when Tunisian Maaloul compensated for the missed penalty by creating a goal from a corner kick, which defender Mohamed Abdel Moneim headed into the net before the end of the first half.

Al-Ahly could have taken the lead at the beginning of the second half, had it not been for Percy Tau's recklessness in front of the goal, and Al-Raja's defense cleared Ahmed Abdelkader's ball before crossing the goal line near the end.

Al-Ahly owes thanks to goalkeeper Mohamed El-Shennawy in confirming qualification by blocking two dangerous chances from Zakaria El-Habi and Zuraida in the last minutes, to continue his journey towards consolidating his record and winning the title for the 11th time.

ES Setif qualified

In the capital, Tunis, ES Setif won an important victory over Tunisia's Esperance with a single goal that was enough to cross the Algerian club to the semi-finals.

Veteran striker Abdelmoumen Djabo scored a goal in the first half to seal ES Setif's qualification to the semi-finals after a goalless draw in Algeria.

Riad Bin Ayada grabbed the ball from Abdelkader Badran, defender of Esperance, and passed it to Gabo, to be alone with goalkeeper Moez Ben Sharifia and hit the net in the 21st minute.

The efforts of coach Radhi Jaidi's team to amend the result failed, so the dream of the fifth title was lost.

"The team prepared well after addressing the mistakes of the first leg when we allowed the opponent to create many chances to score," said ES Setif coach Reda Ben Idris.

"We studied Esperance well, played with discipline, focusing on the counter-attack, and managed to score a goal as we planned," he added.

Esperance was denied the support of its fans due to a penalty, but could have scored early from two chances for striker Mohamed Ali Benhamouda in the first five minutes.

ES Setif, the champion of the competition in 1988 and 2014, got rid of the pressure of the hosts thanks to its organized defense and made the first threat when Ben Ayada rose to meet the ball with a header over the goal in the 20th minute.

A minute later, Ben Ayada took advantage of defender Badran's mistake to set up Gabo's goal.

Esperance gained possession of the ball, but lacked effectiveness in front of the goal, and Algerian goalkeeper Sofiane Khudairi starred.

The closest chance to equalize was missed when midfielder Ghailan Shaalali's shot bounced off the post and then headed a header that hit the post again.

The date of the Al-Ahly and ES Setif match

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 in its favor by winning on penalties.

And the date between them was renewed in the same round in 2018, which Al-Ahly resolved this time by winning 3-2 in the total of the first and second matches.

The two teams will meet for the third time in the first leg of the semi-finals on the sixth of next May in Cairo, before they meet in the return leg on the 13th of the same month in Algeria.