CAF Champions League.. Raja is defeated by 2-0 against Al-Ahly

Raja Casablanca was defeated by its Egyptian host, Al-Ahly, with two goals to zero, in the match that brought them together, this evening, Saturday, at Cairo International Stadium, in the first leg of the quarter-final round of the African Champions League for football.

Al-Ahly’s goals were scored by Mohamed Abdel Moneim in the second minute of stoppage time in the first half via Rasia, and Hamdi Fathy in the 83rd minute of the match.

The beginning of the first half of the match witnessed great pressure on the part of the two teams to open the door for registration, as many opportunities were missed to score the first goal for Raja in the fourth minute through a free kick that Muhammad Al-Nahiri hit, which was brilliantly saved by Al-Ahly goalkeeper, and in the (33rd) minute by Walid Al-Sabar.

Al-Ahly also missed the opportunity to score (D11) by Hussein Al-Shahat with a powerful shot from the borders of the penalty area, which was blocked by Raja’s goalkeeper Anas Al-Zeniti, and Mahmoud Kahraba, who scored a goal (D23), canceled by the match referee, claiming offside.

The second half witnessed some attempts from both sides, and Al-Ahly dominated the course of the game, which posed a real danger to Al-Zeniti’s goal.

Raja Casablanca’s performance fell dramatically, and he had no attempts at Al-Ahly’s goal, while the homeowners managed to score a second goal six minutes before the end.

The return match between the two teams is scheduled to take place next Saturday at Mohammed V Stadium in Casablanca.

Al-Raja needs to achieve victory over Al-Ahly in the second leg, a clean triple, in order to ensure that it reaches the golden square of the African competition, while Al-Ahly needs a draw or even a loss by a goal difference to pass to the next round.

The qualifier from the Al-Raja and Al-Ahly confrontation will play with the qualifier from the Tunisian Esperance match and the Algerian JS Kabylie, as the first-leg match between them, which was held in Algeria on Friday, ended with the Tunisian team winning 1-0.

Raja Casablanca qualified for the quarter-finals after defeating its guest Simba Tanzanian by three goals to one, drawing the sixth round of the group stage of the CAF Champions League (Group C).

Tunisian Esperance won the CAF Champions League title 4 times before, while Wydad and Al-Raja managed to win the competition 3 times each, along with two titles for the Algerian JS Kabylie team, and a single title for the South African Sun Downs, while the Tanzanian duo Simba and the Algerian Belouizdad youth had never raised African Cup before.

Since 2017, Arab clubs have imposed their control over the championship titles, as Wydad won the 2017 title, then Tunisian Esperance with the 2018 and 2019 titles, then Al-Ahly of Egypt with the 2020 and 2021 titles, and finally Wydad, who won the 2022 title.