Libya’s Al Ahli Tripoli put themselves in an excellent position to advance to the group stage of the 2023 Arab Club Champions Cup on Tuesday with a 2-1 first leg victory in Cairo over Egyptian Premier League club El Gaish. The Egyptian club got off to an excellent start with Karim Tarek’s first half goal giving the hosts a lead by the time the halftime whistle arrived. Last season’s Libyan Premier League runners-up stormed back in the second half with two goals to leave Ahli the favorites to advance when the teams meet again in Benghazi next week.
El Gaish are struggling this season and fighting relegation in Egypt’s top tier but the club affiliated with the military got off to an excellent start. Tarek snuck behind the Al Ahli defense in the 21st minute and had plenty of room and time to consider his finish before shooting low past goalkeeper Muhammad Nashnoush. There were several opportunities for the hosts to extend their lead but El Gaish’s issues with finishing would come back to haunt them.
Ahli struck back with an important goal early in the second half. After a penalty kick was awarded to the visitors for a foul in the El Gaish penalty area, Libya national team left back Mohamed El Monir leveled the match with a calm spot kick. Ahli continued to apply pressure and found the match winner late on when Nigerian striker John Ebuka got behind on the left wing and crossed for a wide open Ali Maatouk to finish.
Highlights from the match are below. The next African club in action at the Arab Club Champions Cup will be Tunisia’s US Monastir when they face Yemeni club Fahman SCC in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for the first leg of their tie.
