Bafana Bafana and Al Ahly star Percy Tau was an unused substitute as the Egyptian giants beat Simba SC to march into the CAF Champions League semi-finals.
Al Ahly beat the Tanzanian giants 2-0 in Cairo. The serial CAF Champions League winners won the two-legged affair 3-0 on aggregate.
Prior to this clash, Al Ahly’s coach Marcel Koller stressed on the importance of utilising chances in high-stakes matches. “The win away has given us confidence,” he said, while emphasising the determination of his players.
And his men did not disappoint as they outsmarted the Tanzanian giants courtesy of Amr Al-Sulaya’s goal and Mahmoud Kahraba’s late penalty.
TAU MISSED ACTION AS AL AHLY STORM INTO CAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SEMIS
Tau was on the bench as Hussein Ali El Shahat, who replaced him in the first leg started. As usual, the hosts started the match with so much impetus and they had a goal ruled out for off-side after 21 minutes.
Anthony Modeste darted the ball home after receiving the ball from El Shahat, who was initially offside.
They were deadlocked at the break but the Egyptians returned with more firepower. Amr Al-Sulaya opened the scoresheet when he was set-up by Modeste after a neat build-up.
The defending champions are again emerging to be the team to beat in this edition of the tournament.
They will face the winner between TP Mazembe and Petro Atletico of Angola. In the first leg, Tau put in a decent shift as the Egyptian giants beat Simba SC 1-0 in their own backyard at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium.
In truth, they faced relentless pressure from the Tanzanian side. But they displayed their championship pedigree to see off the tightly contested fixture.
And Ahmed Koka’s early strike was all they needed to secure the hard-fought win, an advantage going into the second leg at home.
Nevertheless, the second leg was always going to be a tough tie, considering how Simba SC played toe-to-toe with them.
PERCY TAU’S 2023/24 SEASON RECORD
However, having failed to hit the target in both legs, Tau remains with one goal in the 2023/24 CAF Champions League.
He scored the goal on 2 December 2023 against Young Africans in a group phase match. All in all the ex-Mamelodi Sundowns star has six goals under his belt across all competitions.
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