SuperSport United beat Al Ahly but out of CAF Champions League
Unlucky SuperSport crash out
Posted: 2011-04-02 22:26
SuperSport United beat Al Ahly 1-0 on Saturday night, but crashed out in round 32 of the CAF Champions League.
Al Ahly won 2-0 in the first leg in Egypt, but the Pretoria side was undoubtedly the better of the two sides in front of a poor crowd at the Peter Mokaba stadium in Polokwane, but SuperSport's dominance counted for little in the end as they could only score a single goal when they needed at least two without conceding to send the match into extra time. The jittery Egyptians deployed a 5-4-1 formation and restricted SuperSport to a single goal.
Ahly started the brighter side when their lone striker Dominique da Silva shot over the bar from the left inside 30 seconds from a tight angle after an error by Mogogi Gabonamong.
The PSL champions, with only three substitutes on the bench including a goalkeeper, hit back soon afterwards. Dipsy Selolwane was given space and time to shoot from outside the box in the seventh minute, but his attempt crashed against the post. The Ahly defence continued to buckle under pressure and the experienced Wael Gomaa fouled Kermit Erasmus on the edge of the box in the 27th minute. The referee, Mauritian Rajindraparsad Seechurn, awarded a free kick to SuperSport and Jabulani Maluleke stepped up to smash in a fantastic effort to hand SuperSport the lead.
The goal lifted the poor crowd, including Limpopo premier Cassel Mathale, who was in attendance but it did little to threaten the now resolute Ahly defence, despite being forced to reshuffle on the stroke of halftime when Sherif Abdul-Fadil, who was struggling with injury, had to make way for midfielder Mohamed Aboutrika. SuperSport led 1-0 at halftime.
Into the second half and Ahly were lucky not to fall further behind when Matsatsantsa were denied a penalty in the 56th minute. Gomaa hacked down Tebogo Langerman in the box, but the referee waved play on, much to the dismay of the crowd. Aggrieved by the dubious decision, SuperSport captain Morgan Gould went up to the referee to protest and earned himself a booking for his troubles.
With half an hour to go Langerman wasted a glorious opportunity after Hossam Ghaly headed backwards unaware Langerman was lurking in the box, but the latter headed over the bar with the goalkeeper at his mercy.
After Langerman's woeful finishing, none of the teams created any real opportunities and Ahly held on to progress with a 2-1 aggregate score, while SuperSport become the latest South African team to fail in CAF's premium competition.
TEAMS:
SuperSport United (4-5-1): Rowen Fernandez – Thabo September, Ricardo Katza (Lyle Lakay 70th), Morgan Gould, Mogogi Gabonamong – Letladi Madubanya (Bradley Carnell 76th), Jabulani Maluleke, Thandani Ntshumayelo, Dipsy Selolwane, Tebogo Langerman – Kermit Erasmus
Al Ahly (5-4-1): Ahmed El-Moneam - Sherif Abdul-Fadil (Mohamed Aboutrika 45th), Ahmed Al-Sayed, Ahmed Fathi, Wael Gomaa, Hossam Ghaly - Hossam Ashour, Mohamed Nagy (Moataz Eno 80th), Mohamed Shawky, Sayed Moawad (Ayman El Sayed 58th) - Dominique da Silva
Referee: Rajindraparsad Seechurn (Mauritius)
1st assistant: Balkrishna Bootun (Mauritius)
2nd assistant: Vally Vivian (Mauritius)
Cautions: Gould, Selolwane; Gomaa
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