Wessam Abou Ali stole the spotlight with a sensational hat-trick as Al Ahly delivered a dominant 6-1 victory over Algeria’s CR Belouizdad.
The victory solidifies Al Ahly’s position at the top of Group C with seven points, two clear of South Africa’s Orlando Pirates. Meanwhile, Belouizdad remain in third place with three points, narrowly ahead of Stade d’Abidjan.
Al Ahly: Mohamed El-Shennawy – Khaled Abdel-Fattah, Achraf Dari, Rami Rabia, Yahya Attiat-Allah – Amr El-Soulia, Akram Tawfik, Marwan Attia – Hussein El-Shahat, Wessam Abu Ali, Reda Selim.
CR Belouizdad: Moustapha Zeghba – Hussein Benayada, Chouaib Keddad, Mouad Hadded, Naoufel Khacef – Jacques Mbé, Abdelraouf Benguit, Housseyn Selmi – Aymen Mahious, Khanyisa Mayo, Abderrahmane Meziane.
The match began with high intensity as Al Ahly applied early pressure, but it was CR Belouizdad who struck first. Aymen Mahious opened the scoring in the 21st minute.
However, just before the halftime whistle, Palestinian striker Wessam Abou Ali equalized for Al Ahly with finish in stoppage time, sending the teams into the break level on goals.
The second half was a different game for the Red Devils. Wessam Abou Ali wasted no time, scoring his second goal in the 52nd minute with a sharp finish. Four minutes later, Hussein El-Shahat extended Al Ahly’s lead with a strike in the 56th minute.
Abou Ali completed his hat-trick in the 84th minute, sealing a standout individual performance. Belouizdad’s defense began to crumble under pressure, and substitute Percy Tau capitalized with a shot into the net in the 86th minute.
Emam Ashour added the final flourish with a strike from distance in the final minutes of the game, capping off the 6-1 victory for the African champions.
Al Ahly will face CR Belouizdad again in the fourth round of Group C fixtures on 3 January in Algeria, where they’ll look to extend their lead at the top of the group and take another step towards qualification.