HARARE: Al-Ahly of Egypt closed in on a place in the African Champions League semi-finals thanks to a 1-0 win over Dynamos of Zimbabwe Saturday.
The Red Devils of Cairo now need one point from two Group A fixtures in the Egyptian capital next month to seal a place among the last four as the chase for the $1 million first prize intensifies.
And even that point will not be necessary if bottom-of-the-table ASEC Mimosas of Ivory Coast fail to triumph Sunday when they host the other Egyptian challengers, Zamalek.
Ahly, perennial favorites to win the major African Football Confederation club competition, have accumulated 10 points, Zamalek four, Dynamos three and ASEC two.
Midfielder Mohamed Barakat scored the only goal in the Zimbabwean capital after 10 minutes as Ahly followed up a lucky home victory over Dynamos with a much improved performance.
The five-time African Champions League winners found the net twice more in an action packed first half at Rufaro Stadium but both goals were mysteriously disallowed by the Burkina Faso referee.
But luck did favor the visiting team close to half-time on a clear spring afternoon as defender Ahmed Al-Sayed should have received a red card rather than a yellow after flooring Philip Marufu with a kick.
Warned by Portuguese coach Manuel Jose to expect a hot reception from rivals desperate for maximum points, Ahly weathered some early pressure on the artificial pitch to take control and silence a capacity 30,000 crowd.
Dynamos had only themselves to blame for the goal as they failed to pick up a run by Barakat and when Mohamed Abou-Trika released the ball, his fellow midfielder had little trouble scoring from close range.
Just three minutes later the Zimbabwean defense was in disarray again and Abou-Trika fired past goalkeeper Willard Manyatera only for the Burkinabe official to cancel the effort.
Manyatera was beaten again after 34 minutes as a free kick from near the touchline by Angola-born midfielder Felisberto Gilberto Amaral eluded everyone and landed in the back of net only to be disallowed.
Dynamos best chance of equalizing fell to Marufu late in the opening half, but he blazed over, and Ahly goalkeeper Amir Abdel-Hamid was rarely troubled after the break. -AFP
