Ahli and their fans were forced to hold their breath for what seemed an eternity before Sudanese side Al-Hilal finally capitulated in the African Champions League. Abeer Anwar reports With just five minutes left, Ahli's Flavio Amado scored the winning goal with a beautiful chip and Osama Hosni got the insurance goal. The goals in Cairo Stadium were a long time in coming thanks to a stringent defence by Hilal making its first ever appearance in the group stage of the African Champions League. Ahli tops Group A with three points in the first game of the group stage as the defending champions attempt an unprecedented third Champions League trophy in a row. "I am very happy to have passed such a match," Manuel Jose, Ahli's Portuguese coach, said. "It was very difficult and the Sudanese players were very tough." Hilal's Brazilian coach Ricardo thought Flavio's goal should have been disallowed after the Angolan shoved to get to the ball. "It was not a goal. It was false," Ricardo said. The game served as warm-up for Ahli who play Ismaili today in the semi-final of the Egyptian Cup. Zamalek and Petrol Assiut were to have met yesterday in the other semi-final. In the same group, Ivorian champions Asec held Esperance of Tunisia to a pulsating 0-0 draw in a balanced game played at the Al-Menzah Stadium in Tunis. In Group B on Friday, Libya's Al-Ittihad capped their debut game in the most prestigious club competition on the continent with a lone goal victory over J.S.Kabylie of Algeria. And Tunisian champions Etoile Sportive du Sahel beat Moroccan side FAR Rabat by a lone goal in the Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat on Saturday. FAR Rabat of Morocco had two players sent off. This was the second time Etoile had beaten the former Moroccan champions after a similar feat in the 2006 CAF Confederations Cup final last year.
