Title holders Al Ahly held out for a 0-0 draw with Libya’s Al Ittihad in their MTN CAF Champions League semifinal, first leg match in Tripoli on Sunday night, taking the upper hand in their quest to qualify for a third consecutive final.

Follow up:

The Egyptians survived an early scare when Al Ittihad winger Walid Mhadeb got in behind the Al Ahly defense and beat goalkeeper Essam Al Hadari to a through ball, only for Ahmed El Sayed to clear the ball off his own goal line.


Mohamed Aboutrika created Al Ahly’s best chance of the first half, gliding past two defenders, playing a slick one-two with Flavio before forcing Samir Aboud into a sharp save at his near post.


Al Ahly continued to crowd out Al Ittihad in the second half and probably should have won the game with a late effort from Flavio. The Angolan striker had a virtual open goal to aim for after Aboud had sprinted off his line, but his first-time effort deflected off an Ittihad defender and narrowly missed the goals.


Al Ahly will now fancy their chances of winning the tie outright in the return leg in Cairo on the weekend of October 5-7, but Al Ittihad will take heart from the fact that they did not concede an away goal.







Related Articles: Ahli-Sundowns 2-0. | Al Ittihad -JSK 1-0. | Ahly-Al Hilal 2-0.