Al Ahly have defeated Esperance de Tunis 1-0 on aggregate to claim the 2023/24 CAF Champions League title.
The Red Devils had played out a disappointing goalless draw away in Tunisia last week in the first leg of the competition’s final.
However, with a full-capacity crowd in attendance for the return leg at the Cairo International Stadium, Al Ahly managed to come out on top with a narrow lead.
The opening stages saw the hosts dominate the proceedings as they found the breakthrough after only four minutes from an own goal.
A sublime corner delivery from Hussein El-Shahat almost found Ramy Rabia but the ball was diverted into the net by Esperance’s Roger Aholou.
After forcing the early lead, El-Shahat nearly found the second as he fired a rocket from long range before it was saved by Amanallah Memmiche in the 37th minute.
Despite their first-half performance, Al Ahly had to sit deep after the break to maintain their advantage as Esperance slowly got back into the game and started to look more threatening.
The visitors were close to getting an equaliser around the hour mark when Brazilian midfielder Yan Sasse curled the ball from distance into the far corner but his shot went inches wide.
Head coach Marcel Koller decided to bring on reinforcements off the bench in Aliou Dieng and Mohamed Magdy Afsha to see off the Tunisian side.
Afsha’s introduction nearly paid dividends for Al Ahly as the playmaker saw his free-kick effort rattle the bar with just three minutes remaining to full-time.
The win meant that Al Ahly have now won the Champions League title for the 12th time in the club’s history and their fourth in the last five years.
They are also set to meet arch-rivals Zamalek in the CAF Super Cup this year after the latter won the Confederation Cup last week.