Wydad Casablanca hold Al Ahly in first-leg

AL AHLY, of Egypt, were unable to build on a great start and had to settle for a 1-1 first-leg draw with Wydad Casablanca, of Morocco, on Saturday in the Caf Champions League final.

Moamen Zakaria scored after just three minutes for the record eight-times African champions at the Borg el Arab Stadium in Mediterranean city Alexandria.

But leading Wydad scorer Achraf Bencharki levelled on 16 minutes and dominant Al Ahly were unable to regain the lead before a crowd restricted to 50 000 for safety reasons.

Wydad host the return match next Saturday and are favoured to pocket the record $2.5-million (R35.35-million) first prize, given their home form in Africa this season.

The Moroccan outfit won all six home matches en route to the final, including a 1-0 last-eight victory over defending champions Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa.

Apart from the record purse, the African champions qualify for the even more lucrative Fifa Club World Cup in the United Arab Emirates during December.

One-touch passing down the left flank created the early chance for Zakaria, and his looping left-foot shot went over goalkeeper Zouheir Laaroubi into the corner.

Bencharki stunned the home crowd when his glancing header off a pin-point Mohamed Ounajem cross flew into the far corner.

After slamming six goals past Etoile Sahel, of Tunisia, last weekend at the same venue in the second leg of a semifinal, much was expected of Al Ahly.

The early goal was followed by intense pressure from the home side with Walid Azaro, scorer of a hat-trick in the semifinal rout, twice going close.

Morocco-born Azaro fired over when one-on-one with the goalkeeper and was then foiled by a brave block from Laaroubi.

Another Al Ahly chance was wasted when Nigerian Junior Ajayi failed to connect properly with a cross and his header flew wide when it should at least have been on target.

The visiting team suffered a major blow when livewire winger Ounajem was forced to come off injured during the opening half, with Abdeladim Khadrouf taking his place.

Wydad have featured in two previous Champions League finals, defeating Al Hilal, of Sudan, in 1992 and losing to Esperance, of Tunisia, six years ago. – AFP