Two assists from left back Ali Maâloul helped Al Ahly ease to a 3-0 victory over Cameroon’s Coton Sport on Saturday in Group B action from the CAF Champions League. After a strike from Mohamed Sherif in the opening minute, Tunisia national team player Maâloul set up Ahmed Kendouci and Khalil Raafat in a comfortable victory for the Egyptian giants. Ahly are now three points back of Group B leaders Mamelodi Sundowns and two back of Sudan’s Al-Hilal Omdurman while Coton Sport remain at the bottom with zero points at the midway point.
It took fifty-five seconds for the hosts to open the scoring through Sherif, who laid off a pass to Taher Mohamed on the left wing before making a run and meeting Mohamed’s cross with high quality finish past Coton Sport goalkeeper Gadin Allambatnan. Ahly should have doubled their lead before the half hour mark but after Mohamed Hany’s cross opened up a shot for Hamdi Fathi the midfielder’s effort went off the crossbar before being cleared.
Before halftime Ahly found their second goal when Kendouci dove to meet Maâloul’s cross at the near post with a well placed header past Allambatnan in the 40th minute. The visitors from Cameroon played well for some stretches, particularly in the second half, but lacked the final ball to threaten Ahly’s defense until another brilliant assist from Maâloul late on. The former CS Sfaxien star played a pass inside to Kendouci and made an excellent run for the Algerian’s return pass, crossing first time to a wide open Raafat for the young academy product’s first CAF Champions League goal a week after returning from 2023 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations duty for Egypt.
Highlights are below.
