Algeria - Saba:
The Algerian Chabab Belouizdad on Friday beat Al-Ahly of Egypt 1-0 in the opening match for the Group 3 4th round in the group stage of the CAF Champions League at the "5 July" stadium in the Algerian capital.
The Algerian team raised its hopes of reaching the quarter-finals after raising its score to (6) points in second place in the group standings temporarily, behind Al-Ahly, the leader with seven points, while Orlando Pirates comes third with five points from three matches and Stade d'Abidjan fourth with one point. The latter two meet today, Saturday, in Johannesburg.
Unlike the first leg match that ended with a crushing victory for the Egyptian team 6-1, Chabab Belouizdad appeared better and more dangerous in the first half, as coach Abdelkader Omrani worked to close the gaps and change the way of playing to avoid the mistakes he made during his team's visit to Cairo.
At the "5 July" stadium in the Algerian capital, Al-Ahly suffered from some absences, as Swiss coach Marcel Koller relied on a defensive formation, relying on Palestinian striker Wissam Abu Ali as a clear striker.
The advantage in the first half went to the home team, who posed a great threat to the goal of veteran goalkeeper Mohamed El-Shennawy, especially through Abdel Rahman Meziane's runs from the left side. The team managed to open the scoring through South African Kanisa Mayo, but the referee disallowed the goal for offside (15).
The Algerian team intensified its attacks, as Aymen Mahyous shot a powerful ball that El-Shennawy pushed away with his fist (29). Meziane shot a long ball that El-Shennawy caught (38).
Rami Rabia responded with a header after a free kick that Algerian goalkeeper Mustafa Zeghba caught brilliantly (43).
Mayo almost scored, but his header went over the crossbar despite the goal being empty of goalkeeper El-Shennawy, who collided with one of his teammates (45+3).
The Egyptian team tried to surprise the home team at the start of the second half of the match, but the cohesion of the Algerian defense prevented them from reaching Zeghba's goal, and Belouizdad players quickly regained the initiative and launched a torrent of opportunities on El-Shenawy's goal, especially with the entry of veteran striker Islam Slimani, who shot a ball that the Egyptian goalkeeper controlled (68).
Meziane almost opened the scoring again, but Al-Ahly defender Rami Rabia blocked his shot before it penetrated El-Shenawy's net (72).
Following a coordinated counterattack, Abu Ali passed the ball through to Hussein El-Shahat, who shot over the goal (83).
Meziane tried again with a long-range shot that El-Shenawy easily saved (87). Meziane did not stop creating danger, but rather created the only goal of the match when he penetrated and passed the ball across, and Hadi Al-Shaabi shot it powerfully, but it rebounded from El-Shenawy in front of substitute Noufal Khasef, who followed it into the net (90+1).
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