In injury time, Ceramica Cleopatra midfielder Justice Arthur’s own goal secured Ahly a hard-fought 1-0 victory in the Egyptian Super Cup.
Introduced with just one minute left in injury time to bolster his side’s defense, the Ghanaian player failed to clear a rebounded ball from the post, inadvertently scoring the winning own goal.
Despite numerous clear-scoring opportunities throughout the match, Ahly struggled to convert them into goals. Karim Fouad’s shot from inside the area went over the crossbar, while Ceramica Cleopatra’s Mahmoud Abdel-Hafez had a close-range effort denied by Ahly’s international goalkeeper, Mohamed El-Shennawi, in the opposition’s sole real chance of the game.
Ahly faced adversity when El-Shennawi exited the match due to a suspected hamstring injury.
Winger Taher Mohamed had an opportunity to secure the lead for Ahly before halftime, but his close-range lob went over the goal.
In the second half, Ceramica Cleopatra’s substitute midfielder, Mahmoud Touni, nearly scored with a dangerous attempt that struck the crossbar just three minutes after the restart.
Ahly’s Karim Fouad squandered a golden opportunity eight minutes past the hour mark, as his shot from inside the area sailed over the goal when he had a clear chance to score.
In the dying moments of injury time, Emam Ashour’s cross from the left flank struck the post, and Justice Arthur’s unsuccessful clearance led to an own goal, sealing Ahly’s victory.
With this triumph, Ahly progresses to the final, where they are set to face Modern Future FC on Thursday.
Earlier in the day, Modern Future FC secured their spot in the final by prevailing over Pyramids FC in a thrilling penalty shootout, concluding with a scoreline of 14-13 in favor of Modern Future FC.
