Six-time African champions Ahli suffered a stunning 1-0 defeat by Gunners of Zimbabwe in the first-leg of the Champions League round of 32 on Saturday. A defensive lapse allowed Gunners striker Norman Maroto to strike home midway through the first half. Ahli piled on pressure in the second half but failed in their attempts to notch the equalizer. They had a goal ruled out for offside one minute from time to open their Champions League campaign in disappointing fashion. Ahli will have to overturn the one-goal deficit in the second leg in Cairo in two weeks' time if they are to avoid being eliminated at the first hurdle. The Red Devils, who won the Champions League in 2008, suffered a second-round exit last season after losing to Nigeria's Kano Pillars. Poor Defending Ahli missed veteran midfielder and Egypt skipper Ahmed Hassan through injury while playmaker Mohamed Abou-Treika and attacking midfielder Mohamed Barakat started on the bench. They lacked creativity in the first half, barely creating goalscoring opportunities. Gunners had the upper hand, taking Ahli by surprise after playing a fluent and pacey game. They capitalized on some poor defending from the visitors to open the scoring after 23 minutes. Ahli's right-back Ahmed Ali mis-hit his kick when he tried to clear the danger to allow Maroto to collect the ball and fire a low shot into the bottom corner. Coach Hossam Al-Badri introduced Abou-Treika and Barakat in the second half in a bid to inject much-needed zeal but Ahli still found it difficult to trouble the hosts. They tried their luck from distance on several occasions, with defensive midfielder Hossam Ashour coming close with a low shot that narrowly missed the target. Barakat wasted Ahli's best chance six minutes from time. He latched onto a neat pass from Abou-Treika to go one-on-one with keeper Tafadzwa Dube, whose timely interception denied the mercurial midfielder from grabbing the equalizer. Mostafa Shebeita thought he had scored the decisive goal when his shot deflected off Abou-Treika and wrong-footed Dube but the referee adjudged Abou-Treika to be in an offside position.
