CAFCL: AS FAR's first leg meltdown gives Pyramids FC the advantage in quarterfinal duel

Egyptian club Pyramids FC took a big step towards the CAF Champions League semifinals on Tuesday with a 4-1 quarterfinal first leg victory over Morocco's AS FAR.

A disastrous start for the Moroccan team saw Mostafa Fathi seize upon poor passing from the AS FAR defense and set up Congolese striker Fiston Mayele for an easy finish in the 2nd minute. Less than ten minutes later, Mayele was in the right place to fire in from a brilliant cross by Ibrahim Adel with the outside of his boot.

AS FAR did respond and created a couple of opportunities while controversially being denied a penalty kick following a VAR review. However, it got worse for the visitors in the 39th minute when Ramadan Sobhi set up Adel for a slick finish over AS FAR goalkeeper Hamza Hamiani after more awful passing from the AS FAR defense.

Luck did tilt back towards the side of AS FAR, who pulled a goal back before halftime when Youssef El Fahli's excellent hold up work set up Abdelfettah Hadraf for a composed finish. The Moroccan club also may have been fortunate to escape a red card after Pyramids star Adel was pulled by an AS FAR defender by his neck, a moment that caused another VAR check.

But in the end the brilliance of Adel came through again to give Pyramids a three-goal advantage for the second leg in Morocco. The Egypt national team attacker left the AS FAR defense hypnotized with a dribbling run and poked in his second of the match in the 67th minute to deal one final blow.

The teams will meet again in a week's time in Meknes, Morocco due to ongoing construction at AS FAR's regular home venue in Rabat.