Al Ahly have defeated Young Africans 1-0 to advance to the next round as group winners in the CAF Champions League.
Despite a thumping 5-1 victory over newly-promoted Baladeyet El-Mahalla in the Egyptian Premier League, Al Ahly struggled to replicate their performance against Young Africans.
With both sides already securing qualification for the knockout stages, Al Ahly head coach Marcel Koller decided to field a different lineup with Amr El-Sulya getting his first start this season while Anthony Modeste benched new-signing Wessam Abou Ali.
The opening half saw Al Ahly fail to create any real threat on goal as goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir pulled off a number of good saves to keep the hosts in the game.
Hussein El-Shahat, who grabbed the winner away at Medeama last week, found the breakthrough three minutes after the restart after tapping home Ali Maaloul’s cutback.
The goal was enough for Al Ahly to secure the win and three points as the victory extended their lead at the top of Group D to 12 points.
