Mohamed Sherif and Salah Mohsen’s second half goals handed Egyptian giants Al Ahly their seventh Total CAF Super Cup title after beating RS Berkane 2-0 at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium in Doha on Friday night.
The Total CAF Champions League holders were dominant over their Total CAF Confederation Cup counterparts, dominating the match especially in the second half and ensuring they hand coach Pitso Mosimane his second continental title since joining the Cairo giants in October last year.
Mosimane won the Champions League as well as finishing third at the Club World Cup with The Red Devils, adding on to the Egyptian Cup he clinched as his first piece of silverware in North Africa.
Heading into the match in Doha on Friday, there was concern for Ahly due to their tight schedule of matches and constant travelling, but they showed less of that in a commanding performance against the Moroccans.
They threatened from early with Aliou Dieng having a good opportunity with a shot from the edge of the box off a Hussein El Shahat cut-back but he skied it over.
Berkane had two good chances to get into the lead. In the 18th minute, skipper Mohamed Aziz saw his header off a short corner go wide. Ten minutes later, they had an even better chance off a counter attack.
Mouhssine Iajour released Mohamed Farehane through on the right with the defender gliding away with only the keeper to beat. However, Ahly shot stopper Mohamed Elshenawy was quick off his line to narrow the angle and Ferehane’s attempt to clip the ball over him ended on the side netting.
In the second half, Ahly were more enterprising in attack and they were ahead after 57 minutes, when Sherif scored with a belter of a goal. The forward made a quick turn inside the box before slicing an unstoppable left foot shot into the net.
The Egyptians continued their dominance and with eight minutes left, they sealed the victory when Mohsen side stepped the keeper before slapping the ball into the net after being put through by a defense splitting pass from Taher Mohamed.
Berkane tried to pluck some respect off the match in search of at least a goal. They came close in the second minute of added time when substitute Alain Traore’s strong header off a cross came off the bar.
On the other end, Ahly also had their chances to extend the lead with Mohamed Magdy ‘Afsha’ forcing the Berkane keeper to a brilliant save with a header while Sherif should have scored his second with another header that came cracking against the upright with the last play.
Discussion about this post