Mamelodi Sundowns and Al Ahly drew at home but managed to qualify for the semi-finals of the African Football League (AFL).
Mahmoud Kahraba scored in Cairo as Ahly came from behind to tie 1-1 with Tanzania’s Simba in the second leg of the quarterfinals. They then won the game on away goals after a 3-3 tie overall.
Sundowns had Mothobi Mvala sent off after only four minutes of Petro Luanda of Angola’s 0-0 draw with Sundowns in Pretoria. Sundowns won the game 2-0 overall.
Sundowns will visit Ahly on Sunday, and the return match will be next Wednesday. Last year, they played each other in the group stage of the CAF Champions League. Sundowns won 5-2 at home and drew 2-2 away.
After a 2-2 draw in Dar es Salaam last Friday, record 11-time African champions Ahly were expected to beat Simba in Egypt, but they were the better team in the first half but couldn’t score.
First, Ahly’s South African player Percy Tau missed a great chance early in the second half. Then, Simba shocked the home team by taking the lead through Malian player Sadio Kanoute in the 68th minute.
When a teammate headed a cross towards the Ahly goal, it hit Kanoute and changed direction, going through the net while Mohamed el Shenawy was not in the right place to stop it.
Only eight minutes went by before Kahraba scored again, giving Ahly their second goal in Tanzania and giving them the lead for good.
Fullback Ali Maaloul, who plays for both Ahly and Tunisia, was always a threat when he ran down the left side. His cut back set up Kahraba for a low shot that beat Ally Salim and went into the corner.
The fact that Ahly had 20 shots on goal but only two hit the target must worry their coach Marcel Koller.
Petro captain Tiago Azulao was running towards goal when centre back Mvala stepped on him. Azulao was given a straight red card.
But Luanda couldn’t make the most of having 10 men on the pitch, and it took them 71 minutes to even try to score.
Tuesday and Wednesday will have the second legs of the games. On Wednesday, TP Mazembe from the Democratic Republic of the Congo will defend a 1-0 lead at home against Esperance from Tunisia.
Wydad Casablanca of Morocco, who lost to Ahly in the last Champions League final, will host Enyimba of Nigeria. They are ahead 1-0 overall.
The AFL is a new competition with a name, number of competitors, and prize money that are very different from the original idea.
The competition used to be called the CAF Africa Super League, but the name was changed because of worries that it might have something to do with the failed attempt in 2021 to make a super league in Europe.
Because many sponsors couldn’t be found, the number of competitors dropped from 24 to 8, and the prize for winning was cut from $11.5 million to $4 million.
It was only eight days before the AFL started that the Saudi Arabian Tourism Authority was named as the main financial backer.
Photo by Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix
