In front of slightly over 50,000 fans at the Cairo International Stadium on Saturday, record African champions Al Ahly soared into the quarter-finals of the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League after a well worked 3-0 victory over Sudan's AL Hilal.
Hussein El Shahat stepped off the bench to score a double to help the Red Devils reach the knock-out phase in emphatic fashion.
The result sees Ahly topple Hilal from second place as they moved to 10 points, same as Hilal who however had an inferior goal difference.
Meanwhile, Mamelodi Sundowns wound up their hold on top spot in the group with a 2-1 win over Cameroon's Cotonsport who leave without a single victory.
Elshahat scored the first of his two in the 64th minute, barely seconds after he had come on for Ahmed Abdelkader.
The substitute picked up a brilliant Percy tau pass before firing past the keeper.
Ahly had gone ahead after 25 minutes, Mahmoud Kahraba scoring from an Abdelkader assists. The forward had come close thrice before the goal, and came closest when his snap shot from inside the box came off the outside of the bar.
In the second half, Hilal started a bit more organized and had a few chances to try their luck, but none was good enough to level the scores. Ahly's game plan changed immediately after Elshahat's arrival, and he didn't take long to implement what coach Marcel Koller had whispered into his ear before he as hailed in.
The Sudanese side was still within striking range even at 2-1 down as they knew even a goal would hand them a closer ticket to the quarters.
But Ahly defended well, and in some instances, were fortunate of the poor final third decisions from the Sudanese.
Ahly cemented and stamped their ticket to the quarter finals in the second minute of added time when Elshahat controlled a cross from Marwan Attia, before gliding past two defenders and shooting low into the net.
The 3-0 cushion was more than welcome for the home side as they saw off the result, to tick the final ticket for the quarter finals in the group stages.
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Elsewhere in Pretoria, Mamelodi Sundowns finished the group phase unbeaten with 14 points after beating winless Cotonsport 1-0. The Cameroonians have lost all their matches in the group phase, conceding 16 goals and scoring only thrice.
A Marie Mekong own goal with two minutes left to the break gave Sundowns the lead. Ethiopian international Abubeker Nasser scored the second goal in the 86th minute while Cotonsports' consolation was scored by Mashood Kasali in the 95th minute.
