Ahli maintained their 100% record in the CAF Champions League group stage after crushing lackluster Esperance 3-0 at Cairo International Stadium on Friday. Mohamed Abou-Treika broke the deadlock early in the first-half before Flavio Amado doubled the lead in the 78th minute. Striker Osama Hosni came off the bench to put the icing on the cake five minutes from time and compound the Tunisian side's misery. Ahli are in charge of Group B with nine points from three matches, six ahead of second-placed Hilal of Sudan, who take on Ivory Coast's ASEC Mimosas on Sunday. Esperance, who haven't scored a single goal in the group stage, lie at the bottom on just one point, on level with ASEC. There were doubts over the participation of Abou-Treika, but the classy playmaker was included in the starting line-up to support attacking duo Emad Meteb and Flavio. Abou-Treika, who scored the winner against ASEC earlier this month, needed 12 minutes to score the opener and send the home fans into frenzy. Sameh Derbali's poor interception to Ahmed Al-Sayed's pass released Abou-Treika, whose delicate chip beat Esperance keeper Hamdi Kasraoui and went into the net despite Karim Touati's effort to clear the ball off the line. Esperance were outplayed in every part of the pitch and couldn't test Ahli keeper Essam Al-Hadari. Their only efforts came through tamed shots which did not bother the Egypt international keeper.
Ahli were apparently content with being one up as they dominated in terms of possession but didn't push forward for the second goal. In the 31st minute, a powerful right-footed shot from Flavio on the edge of the area was tipped over by Kasraoui. Derbali came close at the stroke of half-time after he forced his way into Ahli's area through an individual effort but his hesitation resulted in the ball being cleared. Three minutes after re-start, Abou-Treika's pinpoint cross from the right picked out Meteb, whose close-range header was blocked by Kasraoui. Esperance midfielder Kamel Zaiem fired a powerful long-range free-kick in the 57th minute but it went inches wide of the post. Flavio killed off the Tunisian hopes in the 78th minute when he rose above his marker to head Gilberto's free-kick into the back of the net. After the victory was ensured, Coach Manuel Jose introduced Hosni instead of Mohamed Barakat in a bid to increase the gap. In the 82nd minute, Abou-Treika received Hosni's back-pass inside the area with a brilliant first-timer that just missed the target. Hosni completed the rout five minutes before the final whistle with a superb low bullet that went into the right bottom corner of the net.
