Ahli are close to reaching the semi-final of the African Champions League, writes Abeer Anwar Ahli took a big step towards retaining their African Champions League title after thrashing Ashante Kotoko of Ghana 4-0 in Cairo on Saturday. After less than 20 minutes, Ahli had scored all their goals and coasted, some might say slept, the rest of the way. Mohamed Abu Treika, back from injury, opened the scoring in the sixth minute from a penalty after Osama Hosni was brought down. Mohamed Shawki then hit a close-range header from an Abu Treika cross. Abu Treika was again at his best, feeding Hosni with a superb header which the latter slammed into the net. The fourth goal belonged to the Angolan Flavio, who recently discovered a goalscoring touch, after a back heel gem from Hosni. In the other Group A match, CS Sfaxien got even closer to the semi-final after blanking JS Kabylie 2-0 in Tunisia on the same day. The Ghanaian striker Joetex Frimpong, the newcomer from Nigeria's Enyimba, and Abdel-Karim Al-Naffti scored the two goals. CS Sfaxien lead the group with nine points, ahead of second place Ahli by two points. Kotoko remained at four and JS Kabylie three. Two games remain in the group. Ahli coach Manuel Jose said later that while he was happy with the result he was disappointed with the team's performance. "They only played the first 18 minutes when they scored the four goals. It's a good result yes, but overall the performance was very bad. After the first 20 minutes, they lost concentration. They didn't show respect for their opponent by playing this way." The Portuguese said it was still too early to reveal his plans against Sfax in Cairo next month. "It's still too early to speak about it. The Tunisian side plays strong football and we will need to concentrate on the game one at a time." Kotoko coach Emmanuel Afranie said he was disappointed by the result but blamed it on inexperience. 'They are youngsters and they were playing against a big team at home. At the beginning they lost concentration and as the score increased, they lost confidence. They failed to come back later on. "It was the heaviest defeat for Kotoko in a long time, but I'm glad we are back in the competition after 23 years. Now they are here and they have to fight for the remaining games. "You can't say we are out of the competition because you can't tell the future. You don't know how the rest of the teams will perform in future games. Maybe it will be in our favour." Ivorian side Asec continued their impressive run in the Champions League after holding Nigeria's Enyimba to a goalless draw in Aba in Group B. Enyimba, who have now been held to draws twice at home in the group, hit the crossbar in the 89th minute through striker Atanda Sakibu but struggled on a wet, muddy pitch that was barely playable early on before the sun began to dry it out. The 2003 and 2004 champions also found Asec's Burkina Faso international goalkeeper Mohamed Kabore in fine form on the rare occasions they tested him. In the other Group B match, South Africa's Orlando Pirates put themselves back in contention for a semi-final spot with a 1-0 away win over Ghana's Hearts of Oak. The only goal of an uncompromising clash came after 57 minutes at Len Clay Stadium in the central town when Lebo Mbele raced through the middle and his delicate chip over goalkeeper Mohammed Saani bounced into the net. Victory lifted the Buccaneers to second place with six points, two less than Asec. Enyimba are also in contention for the two semi-finals berths with five points while a third loss in four outings leaves 2000 African Champions League winners Hearts with no chance of advancing to the knockout stage. Asec play Pirates (home) and Hearts (away) during September in their remaining fixtures while the South Africans can clinch a place in the semi-finals provided they beat Enyimba in Johannesburg in the final round.
