VAR to the fore as Al Ahly claim advantage

● Walid Soliman converted two VAR (video assistant referees) penalties to give Al Ahly of Egypt a 3-1 first-leg win over archrivals Esperance of Tunisia on Friday in a foul-littered CAF Champions League final.

Amr el Soulia scored the other goal for the hosts at the Borg el Arab Stadium in Mediterranean city Alexandria and Youcef Belaili converted a penalty for Esperance.

Ahly have won their last three away matches against Esperance in the premier African club competition and are favoured to lift the trophy a record-extending ninth time after the return leg next Friday.

“We will fight for the title in the return match in Tunisia — we will be up against a team worthy of respect,” said France-born Ahly coach Patrice Carteron.

Esperance coach Moine Chaabani was critical of the Algerian referee, VAR, and yellow cards that ruled Chamseddine Dhaouadi and Franck Kom out of the second leg.

“If the intention was to steer the title to a certain team, why do we tire ourselves out, and the fans travel, and dream of the title? We will not give up.”

VAR was part of a Champions League final for the first time and referee Mehdi Charef twice used the system to rubberstamp decisions.

Into the heart of the goalmouth

Esperance goalkeeper Moez Ben Cherifia made contact with Ahly striker Walid Azaro and the match official pointed to the spot before watching replays and confirming the penalty. Veteran Soliman struck it too well for the goalkeeper to have any chance.

The goal on 34 minutes gave the Cairo Red Devils a 1-0 halftime advantage that they doubled after 58 minutes through El Soulia. Soliman was the creator this time, crossing the ball low into the heart of the goalmouth where El Soulia controlled it with his first touch, then poked it past Cherifia.

Rattled two-time champions Esperance clawed their way back into the game after 64 minutes via the only penalty of the three in which the match official did not use VAR.

Goalkeeper Mohamed el Shenawy clearly fouled Youcef Belaili with his shoulder and the Algerian struck the penalty under the body of the Ahly goalkeeper to halve the deficit. But when an Esperance defender retaliated against Azaro in the box, the referee again pointed to the spot and ran to the touchline monitor before confirming his decision. Cherifia converted on 77 minutes. —