Ahly coach Rene Weiler believes his side deserved no more than Saturday's 1-1 draw at Zimbabwean side Platinum FC, which did them no favours in their quest to reach the African Champions League quarters. A sluggish Ahly side, who had a first half to forget, fell behind to a 19th-minute goal from Stanley Ngala as Platinum repeatedly exposed gaps in the visitors' porous backline. The Red Devils notably improved in the second half following the introduction of winger Mahmoud Kahraba, with lone striker Marwan Mohsen bringing them level six minutes after the restart. "I'm disappointed by the result because we were looking for a win," Swiss coach Weiler, under whom Ahly made an impressive start to the Egyptian Premier League after winning their first 10 matches, told the post-match news conference. "At the end, we didn't do enough to deserve a victory, especially because our poor first-half performance." Weiler also lamented the injury of some key players, including veteran playmaker Walid Soliman who was hurt in the warm-up, but refused to make any excuses for the draw against a side who had lost all their three Group B matches before meeting Ahly. Ahly moved temporarily top with seven points from four matches in a tight race that is expected to go down to the wire. Tunisia's Etoile Sahel and Sudan's Al-Hilal, who meet later on Saturday, have six points apiece. The record eight-time winners, who are eyeing their first Champions League crown since 2013, next host Etoile before meeting Al-Hilal away from home in their final group-stage game. "It's difficult to predict the outcome of this group … our next target is to beat Etoile at home," Weiler added. (For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.)
