South Africa’s Orlando Pirates stunned Egypt’s Al Ahly with a thrilling 2-1 victory at Cairo International Stadium on Saturday, securing the top spot in Group C of the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League.
Relebohile Mofokeng opened the scoring in the 53rd minute, capitalizing on defensive errors from Al Ahly. The hosts equalized in the 69th minute through Hussein El Shahat, who skillfully lobbed the Pirates’ goalkeeper. However, Gilberto’s decisive strike in the 83rd minute sealed the victory for Orlando Pirates.
Al Ahly had opportunities to turn the tide, including a disallowed goal from Rami Rabia, but ultimately fell short. Despite the defeat, Al Ahly, managed by Marcel Koller, advanced as group runners-up with 10 points, while Orlando Pirates finished as group winners with 14 points.
In the other Group C match, Algerian giants, Chabab Belouizdad demolished Stade d’Abidjan 6-0 at the July 5th Stadium in their final group fixture. Abdel Rahman Meziane, Mohamed Islam Belkheir, Aymen Mahious, Razki Hamroun, and Marouane Zerrouki all found the net in a dominant display.
Belouizdad ended their campaign with 9 points, narrowly missing out on quarter-final qualification as they finished third in the group. Stade d’Abidjan, with just one point, wrapped up their winless campaign at the bottom of the group.
In Group A, MC Alger secured their place in the quarter-finals with a disciplined goalless draw against Young Africans in Tanzania on Saturday. The Algerian side needed only a point to progress and delivered a solid defensive performance to finish second in the group with 9 points.
Young Africans, making their debut in the group stages, ended their campaign in third place with 8 points, narrowly missing out on progression. Al Hilal had already secured qualification as group winners, leaving TP Mazembe at the bottom despite a resounding victory in their final match.
Already eliminated, TP Mazembe produced their best performance of the competition, thrashing Al Hilal 4-0 in Kinshasa. Jean Diouf scored in the 21st minute, followed by Ibrahima Keita’s strike eight minutes later. Mercy Ngembe added a third before Souleymane Chaibou completed the rout in the 89th minute.
Despite the defeat, Al Hilal retained their position as Group A winners with 10 points from earlier matches, while TP Mazembe concluded their campaign with pride but no path to the quarter-finals.
