Cape Town - Now more than ever, Mamelodi Sundowns and Al Hilal hold Al Ahly's CAF Champions League fate in their hands.
On Friday night, the 10-time Champions League title-holders Al Ahly scored an emphatic 4-0 Group B win over Coton Sport in Garoua, Cameroon, and this outcome kept their Champions League hopes alive.
However, Al Ahly could be officially knocked out of the competition, depending on the result of the Al Hilal vs Sundowns in Sudan on Saturday afternoon. If Al Hilal win they will have 12 points and that would end Al Ahly's chances of progressing to the knock-out stages, regardless of the result of their final group game next week.
If Sundowns wins, Al Hilal would need one point from their final group stage match against Al Ahly next month. In their earlier meeting, Sundowns defeated Al Hilal 1-0 in Pretoria, and on current form, Sundowns should win again on Saturday.
The 27-times capped Egypt leftwing Mahmoud Kahraba scored a hat-trick in Friday's 4-0 win and South Africa's Percy Tau scored the fourth goal.
Tau was in brilliant form and had a hand in two of Kahraba's three goals. It was Tau's second goal in consecutive Champions League matches following his strike against his former side Sundowns who walloped Al Ahly 5-2 in Pretoria last Saturday.
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Tau’s sizzling form will make Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos a very man. Broos named him in his final 24-man squad for this month’s 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Liberia.
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IOL Sport