JOHANNESBURG (AFP) – Defender Mohamed Abdelmonem equalised on the night as Al Ahly of Egypt drew 1-1 at Wydad Casablanca of Morocco on Sunday to win the CAF Champions League for a record-extending 11th time.
His goal cancelled the lead Yahia Attiyat Allah gave the defending champions and earned the Cairo club a 3-2 aggregate victory after building a 2-1 first-leg lead seven days ago.
Ahly scored 27 goals in 14 matches en route to continental glory and four of them came from Egypt centre-back Abdelmonem.
Defeat for Wydad ended a run of two final victories over Ahly, and they paid the penalty for concentrating on defending their fragile second-leg lead instead of seeking further goals.
Unlike Europe, away goals count double in African club competitions when sides finish level on aggregate and Wydad would have retained the trophy had they won 1-0.
Ahly pocketed a record USD4 million for winning and Marcel Koller became the first Swiss coach to win the premier African club competition.
It was the third Champions League triumph in four seasons for Ahly after victories over fellow Egyptians Zamalek in 2020 and Kaizer Chiefs of South Africa the following year.
Wydad made two changes to the side that began the first leg in Cairo last weekend with attackers Mohamed Ounajem and Saifeddine Bouhra replacing Reda Jaadi and Zouhair el Moutaraji.
Veteran Ounajem was part of the Wydad team to beat Ahly in the 2017 final while Bouhra scored on Sunday after coming on as a late substitute.
Ahly made one change with fit-again first choice goalkeeper Mohamed el Shenawy returning in place of Ahmed Shobeir.
The second leg was the 13th time the African club giants had met in the Champions League with Ahly holding a 5-3 lead and four matches drawn.
