Al-Hilal of Sudan defeats Al-Ahly of Egypt with a “sunstroke”

Al-Hilal of Sudan dedicated the knot of its stadium, “The Blue Jewel”, to its Egyptian guest, Al-Ahly, by defeating it 1-0, on Saturday, in the second round of the group stage competitions for the African Champions League in football, during the match that was held at three o’clock Sudan time, and the goal of Al-Hilal was achieved with a shot. The goalkeeper, Mohamed El-Shennawy, did not deal with it properly, after he suffered from the angle of vision due to the brightness of the sun in his eyes, and this was evident during his dealings with the ball that was supposed to be within his reach!

Al-Ahly failed to defeat Al-Hilal throughout the 6 matches it played at the latter’s stadium, while Al-Hilal achieved its first victory over Al-Ahly in 16 years, after its 3-0 victory in 2007 in the group stage as well.
Al-Hilal owes its important victory to the Congolese Macabe Lilibo, who scored the only goal of the match in the 53rd minute, raising Al-Hilal to 3 points in second place behind leaders Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa with six points, while Al-Ahly finished third without points, and has a postponed match with Corona Sport of Cameroon, bottom. Standings by goal difference.
The two teams did not provide the required level, as play was confined most of the time to the middle of the field, and the visiting team’s advantage collided with the defensive organization of the landlords.
The danger to the two goals was scarce, except for an organized attack by Al-Ahly (6), when Ahmed Abdel-Qader passed behind Al-Hilal’s defense to Hamdi Fathy, and he sent it a perfect cross to find Hussein Al-Shahat, who was free of control, who fired it next to the left post of goalkeeper Ali Abu Tashreen, wasting the opportunity for a sure goal.
Senegalese Lamine Jargo responded by penetrating Al-Ahly’s defense from the left side, and hit a ball that Mohamed El-Shennawy pushed away with difficulty and the defense dispersed it (44).
Al-Hilal’s attacking performance improved with the start of the second half, and put pressure on Al-Ahly’s confused defense, as Athar Al-Taher sent an elaborate cross, around which Ghanaian David Abagna headed a header that was dominated by Al-Shennawi (47).
And from a direct free kick to the left, Macabe Lilibo hit it hard in the goal, Al-Shennawi missed it fatally and settled into his net (53).
The referee awarded a penalty kick to Al-Hilal after Ghanaian Abagna was blocked by Fathi. Lilibo rushed to it and Al-Shennawi blocked it (64).
The danger of Al-Ahly was absent, and the minutes passed without any offensive attempts at Abu Twenty’s goal, and the changes of his Swiss coach, Marcel Koller, did not succeed in adjusting the result.
Khaled Bakhit, assistant coach for Al-Hilal, said that his team deserved to beat Al-Ahly.
He explained after the match, “It was a difficult match against Al-Ahly, the African champion, coming from the Club World Cup, and we had no choice but to win today, so that we have hope in the tournament to compete for qualification to the next round.”
He added, “We made a very great effort, and the fans who were prevented from attending the match are waiting for us outside the stadium to celebrate the victory with the players, and we now want to complete the process.”
In the third group, the Ugandan Viper and its guest, Houria of Guinea, tied negatively.
Later, Moroccan Raja Athletic will meet its Tanzanian host, Simba, in Dar es Salaam.