CAF Champions League champions, Al Ahly, have beaten Raja Casablanca on penalties to win their second consecutive CAF Super Cup under Pitso Mosimane.

The 2022 CAF Super Cup took place between Champions League winners Al Ahly and Moroccan giants Raja Casablanca, who were crowned as Confederation Cup champions, in Doha, Qatar.

Entering the game as favourites, Mosimane’s men were dealt a heavy blow just before the start of the game after their key midfielder Amr El-Sulya picked up an injury and had to be replaced with Yasser Ibrahim.

This changed Al Ahly’s starting XI to be as follows:

Mohamed El-Shennawy; Badr Benoun, Ayman Ashraf, Hamdy Fathi Ali Maaloul; Amr El-Sulya, Aliou Dieng, Akram Tawfik; Mohamed Magdy Afsha, Hussein El-Shahat, Percy Tau.

Raja’s XI: Anas Zniti; Abdelilah Madkour, Marouane Hadhoudi, Jamal Harkass, Abdeljalil Jbira; Fabrice Ngoma, Zakaria El Wardi, Mohsen Metwally, Abdelilah Hafidi, Mahmoud Benhalib; Hamid Ahadad.

The Red Devils entered the game on the strong foot, dominating the first 10 minutes of the game; however, it was the Moroccans who managed to break the deadlock through Zamalek loanee Hamid Ahdaad.

In the 13th minute, right back Abdelilah Madkour led Raja Casablanca’s counter-attack, before his cross inside the penalty area couldn’t be cleared by Yasser Ibrahim for Ahaddad to tap it in to give Raja an early lead.

Al Ahly tried to respond quickly, and just three minutes later Maaloul sent a cross inside the penalty area, which was cleared away by the keeper before the rebound was met by El-Shahat, but the keeper was there once again to deny the Reds a quick equaliser.

Apart from these two chances, neither side created any more clear-cut chances in the remaining minutes of the first half as Raja parked the bus and watched the Reds passing the ball around.

It was after the half-time when Al Ahly became more aggressive towards the goal, especially after Mosimane brought on striker Mohamed Sherif for defender Ayman Ashraf.

The Reds, therefore, imposed their pressure and style of play to try and snatch a quick equalizer after the break and this became even more clear when El-Shahat was brought off for Ahmed Abdelkader.

Sherif and Abdelkader changed the pace of the game and this resulted in Al Ahly’s first real chance of the game when Mohamed Magdy Afsha found the ball on the edge of the box, but his long-range effort was caught by Zniti.

Al Ahly then had a penalty shout after Percy Tau’s cross clearly hit Marouane Hadhoudi’s hand, but the referee refused to go consult the VAR.

In the 77th minute, Mosimane made his last substitution when he brought on Taher Mohamed Taher for Yasser Ibrahim, before Percy Tau going through on goal after a ball from Mohamed Sherif, but the South African’s effort went wide.

And as Raja thought they clinched the title, the Red Devils’ pressure proved to be fruitful as they finally managed to score the equalizer in the 90th minute through Taher Mohamed.

Mohamed Sherif found Afsha inside the penalty box but the latter’s shot was parried away by the keeper, but Tau was there for the follow-up, but instead of shooting, he took a more unselfish route and passed it to the open Taher Mohamed Taher, who made it 1-1.

Al Ahly tried to find the winner in the remaining few minutes, but there wasn’t enough time as the game was sent to penalty shootouts.

Al Ahly scored their five initial attempts through Ali Maaloul, Badr Benoun, Percy Tau, Mohamed Abdelkader, and Taher Mohamed, and the same happened for Raja, who scored through Mohamed Zrida, Zakaria El-Wardi, Marouane Hadhoudi, Mahmoud Benhalib, and Mohsen Metwally.

This meant that the cup will be decided with sudden death, in which Akram Tawfik stepped up to take the sixth penalty and sent the goalkeeper the wrong way to give his side an advantage.

Raja’s left-back Abdelilah Madkour was the one to take Raja’s final penalty but his shot went way wide and was unable to hit the target, handing Al Ahly their eighth Super Cup.

Not only Al Ahly have lifted the Super Cup for a record eighth time, but they have reached their 25th international trophy, sitting just one behind European giants Real Madrid.

Moreover, Pitso Mosimane has become the first Al Ahly manager to win the CAF Champions League and the CAF Super Cup for two successive times since Manuel Jose in 2007.

-kingfut