Six-time African champions Ahli can reach the semi-finals of the African Champions League despite drawing 1-1 with Morocco's Wydad Casablanca, Abeer Anwar reports Ahli's 1-1 draw with Wydad in Morocco could have been worse. Had the Cairo giants lost, they would have been ousted from the group stage of the African Champions League. Now, they still have a chance of going through to the semi-finals. Before Sunday's match, Ahli were already under huge pressure after Esperance of Tunisia crushed Mouloudia Alger of Algeria 4-0 a day earlier. Manuel Jose, Ahli's Portuguese coach, appeared tense before the match and his pre- match lecture to the team was full of blame for the players for previous losses and their inability to book an early qualification ticket instead of waiting to the last minute. Matters were compounded by the absence of star midfielder Mohamed Barakat and Brazilian Junior, both absent due to injury. Playing away, Ahli players got off to a dream start when striker Mohamed 'Gedo' Nagi opened the scoring in the 37th minute. But Abdel-Rahim Benkajjane from Wydad equalised two minutes after half-time. With one game remaining, Esperance lead the group with nine points, followed by Wydad with seven, Ahli six and Mouloudia two points. Only Mouloudia cannot reach the last four from Group B. In the final group games tomorrow, 16 September, Ahli host Esperance while Wydad must travel to face Mouloudia. Swiss born Michel Decastel, coach of Wydad, aware of the task ahead, talked to Cafonline.com after the match. "Despite the draw I can tell you that my players played a great game. We started the match with a winning mentality but we did not get all we wanted at half time. Fortunately we were able to equalise almost immediately after the break. We created many chances that we did not convert. One point is better than nothing. The game would have gone either way at any moment and we keep our chances of qualification intact, just like the Egyptians." "We played a good first half, especially in the midfield and with some luck we would have been leading 2-0 at half time," Pedro, Ahli's assistant coach, said. "A point away is not bad but we would have preferred a victory. We now have to concentrate and start preparing for the game against Esperance. With the same spirit like what we showed against WAC, the same determination, I think we can have a good result that can open the doors for the semi-finals for us." Against Esperance Ahli will still be without Barakat who is suffering from an ankle fracture. It is not clear whether Junior will play. At the same time Ahli officials are praying the match goes off smoothly following a torrid week of riots by Ahli Ultras who fought with police in a local Cup game, then allegedly besieged the Israeli Embassy and the Giza police station. Some well-known journalists have asked Ahli's board to depend on civil policemen and guards to secure the match. Tunisia's Esperance stayed top of Group B with a 4-0 win over visiting Mouloudia Alger of Algeria on Saturday. It was a matter of time before Esperance scored and 10 minutes into the match midfielder, Mejdi Traoui opened the scoring. Darragi broke on the left flank sending in a pass to N'Djeng in the 18 meter box who laid it on for Traoui to unleash a 25-metre shot which flew past the goalkeeper Sofiane Azzedine. The Cameroonian Yannick N'Djeng, who is well known by Mouloudia fans after having played up till last season with Algerian side USM Bejaia, scored the second with a thunderous shot. He collected and controlled a ball in the 44th minute from the left of the 18-metre box, before beating Azzedine and Zeddam to score the third goal, vintage N'Djeng at his best. He completed his hat-trick in the 55th minute, having benefitted from a long ball from the centre and beat Azzedine from close range. In Group A, Nigeria's Enyimba became the first team to qualify for the African Champions League semi-finals with a dramatic 2-1 win in Sudan over Al Hilal on Friday. Samuel Tswanya scored a last-minute penalty to give Enyimba the win and lift them to 11 points from their five Group A games so far. Enyimba made it through despite trailing to an early Hilal goal from the competition's top scorer Edward Sadomba, but Valentine Nwaebili cancelled that out midway through the second half. Cameroon's Coton Sport moved into second spot in Group A on Saturday with a 2-1 win over visiting Raja Casablanca of Morocco. After Bouchaib Eel-Moubarki had given Raja an 18th-minute lead, a second-half double from Baba Ousmaila secured the victory. The result takes Coton Sport level with Hilal on seven points, but the Cameroonians have the better head-to-head goal difference. Both Hilal and Coton Sport are away from home next weekend in their final group games as they both battle for a semi-final place. The Cameroonians travel to face Enyimba while the Sudanese side take on Raja Casablanca in Morocco. (Additional reports from news agencies)
