Ahly beat Sewe Sport with late goal to win Confederation Cup

Al Ahly won their first African Confederation Cup title on Saturday with a dramatic 1-0 victory over Ivorians Sewe Sport in Cairo in the second leg of the final.A goal from veteran striker Emad Meteb in the sixth minute of injury time was enough to earn Ahly a fortunate victory against opponents who wasted several great scoring chances.

Ahly took the title on away goals after the two-legged final finished 2-2 on aggregate.

Meteb, the lone link to the great Ahly teams of the previous decade, rose unchallenged to nod a Walid Soliman cross past goalkeeper Sylvain Ghobouo.

The final whistle sounded almost immediately and manager Juan Carlos Garrido darted on to the Cairo Stadium pitch and celebrated becoming the first Spanish coach to win a Caf title.

It was a record-extending 19th African title for Ahly, whose collection includes eight Caf Champions League titles, six Caf Super Cup triumphs and four African Cup Winners Cup titles.

But a young, lively Sewe side appearing in a first African final should have had the final wrapped up long before Meteb became the hero of Egypt.

Captain Souleymane Dembele struck the post in the first half and Essis Aka and Roger Assale missed great second-half chances to grab a precious away goal.

Victory for the Cairo Red Devils lifted some of the gloom hanging over Egyptian football after the failure of the national team to qualify for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations.

Ahly had already surpassed the previous best showing by an Egyptian side - ENPPI making a semi-final exit five seasons ago.

The second leg of Saturday's final between Ahly and Sewe Sport was a rare match where fans were allowed to watch, with provision for 25 thousand spectators to be in the ground.

But before the match, there had been crowd concerns with reports that 2,000 fans had stormed Cairo's main stadium without tickets.

Security officials were reported as saying they had managed to expel fans from the stadium, confiscating 10 bags containing fireworks and banners, ensuring the match could go ahead as scheduled.

Source: BBCsport