In a Fierce Encounter and an All-Out Football Battle, Al Ahly Defeats Monterrey and Advances to the Semi-Finals to Face Palmeiras:

Al Ahly defeats Monterrey and advances to the semi-finals to face Palmeiras
Al Ahly defeats Monterrey and advances to the semi-finals to face Palmeiras

In a football battle that Egypt is currently fighting, both on the continental and global stages, Al Ahly Club faced today the predicament of being without all its stars and professional players, but

never mind — Al Ahly is Al Ahly regardless of the circumstances. The club’s young lions, young in age but great in stature, stepped up to face their opponent

who was fully prepared and complete in numbers and resources — Monterrey of Mexico. Al Ahly achieved a precious victory over Monterrey in a match held today

at Al Heyam Stadium in Abu Dhabi, UAE, in the quarter-finals of the FIFA Club World Cup.

 

Al Ahly Was the Better Side for Most of the Match:

 

Despite the absence of its stars, the new players performed today as if there were no absence issue whatsoever — Al Ahly plays under its crest and jersey regardless of

the name on the shirt, as they are all of one heart, united against any hardship.

Monterrey threatened Al Ahly’s goal at the start of the match and was the better side early on, while Al Ahly also wasted several opportunities

that brought them to Monterrey’s goal more than once. The most notable was a ball by Hussein El-Shahat, who received a beautiful cross from Ali Maaloul in the twelfth minute

but failed to capitalize on it and squandered it despite the ease of the situation.

 

Monterrey threatened Al Ahly’s goal in the twentieth minute with a low shot that passed harmlessly beside the post, with the outstanding Ali Lotfy in goal.

Al Ahly also wasted another dangerous ball in the twenty-sixth minute from the left flank that reached Hussein El-Shahat on the other side,

who passed it to Taher Mohamed Taher, who chose to dribble instead of shooting on goal, and the ball was lost. Monterrey threatened Al Ahly’s goal

again with a dangerous ball, but this time it went over the crossbar.

 

In another opportunity for Al Ahly, Taher Mohamed Taher wasted a certain goal in the twenty-eighth minute after receiving a beautiful cross from

Ali Maaloul, but he shot at goal and the ball went straight into the goalkeeper’s hands. Meanwhile, Monterrey also wasted another powerfully struck ball at Al Ahly’s goal

but it went harmlessly out of play.

Ali Maaloul took a corner from the right side of Monterrey’s goal in the thirty-fourth minute, but Monterrey’s goalkeeper dealt with it, and despite

Al Ahly reaching the goal more than once toward the end of the first half, almost going ahead

and scoring near the end of the half, they did not manage to do so and the first half ended goalless.

 

Second Half:

 

In a calm start, Al Ahly was the better side and succeeded in scoring a brilliant goal from a cross by Ali Maaloul reaching Mohamed Hany, who

brilliantly fired it into the net.

It was the first magnificent goal for the Red Club, playing with a high fighting spirit,

despite the exceptional circumstances it was going through, as if saying to his teammates: don’t worry, focus on the Africa Cup of Nations — we have it covered here.

Goalkeeper and match star Ali Lotfy excelled in saving a ball in the style of El-Shenawy

and El-Hadary, leaping to push the ball out of the goal brilliantly.

Magdy Kafsha shot directly at Monterrey’s goal in around the sixty-fifth minute but the goalkeeper held it.

 

Al Ahly made more than one substitution in the middle of the second half, with Karim Fouad coming on for Mohamed Maghrebi due to Maghrebi’s injury, and a Monterrey player wasted a

direct free-kick from a very dangerous position against Al Ahly.

Walid Suleiman also threatened Monterrey’s goal with a dangerous header in the eighty-first minute but it went over the crossbar. Monterrey also wasted another

direct free-kick in the third minute of added time — one that stopped many hearts — conceded due to Dieng’s foul on a Monterrey

player, but it passed well wide of the goal.

 

Al Ahly Played the Match Under Difficult Circumstances:

 

Al Ahly played today’s match under the circumstances of numerous absences that hit the club’s ranks, including the absence of international players currently with the national team, such as

Mohamed El-Shenawy, Ayman Ashraf, Hamdi Fathi, Mohamed Sharif, and Amr El-Solia, as well as injured players such as Akram Tawfik, Ammar Hamdi,

Badr Banoun, Salah Mohsen, Hossam Hassan, Ahmed Nabil Kouka, and Percy Tau.

 

Al Ahly advances to the semi-finals to face Palmeiras in the FIFA Club World Cup.

 

Best of luck to Al Ahly and all the Arab clubs participating in the tournament.

In a Fierce Encounter and an All-Out Football Battle, Al Ahly Defeats Monterrey and Advances to the Semi-Finals to Face Palmeiras:

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