After 8 Years Without a Win: Espérance Defeat Al Ahly

Tunisian side Espérance ended an eight-year run of disappointments against Egypt’s Al Ahly after securing a valuable and hard-fought 1–0 victory in the match played at Stade Hammadi Agrebi in Radès, in the first leg of the CAF Champions League quarter-finals.

Espérance’s last win over Al Ahly dates back to the 2018 final of the same competition, when the Tunisian club sealed the second leg with a 3–0 victory to claim their third title in the continent’s most prestigious club tournament. The following season, Espérance successfully defended the trophy, confirming their status among Africa’s elite clubs. However, since that encounter, the two teams entered a run of encounters that clearly tilted in favor of the “Club of the Century.”

In the six matches that followed that final, Al Ahly dominated the head-to-head clashes between the two sides, recording five victories and one draw, while Espérance failed to score a single goal against the Egyptian giants during that period. The most notable of those encounters was the 2024 final, when Al Ahly secured the title to claim their 12th triumph in the competition, further cementing their continental dominance in recent years.

Sunday’s match, however, told a different story. Espérance finally broke the streak and rediscovered the taste of victory against their traditional rival. The decisive moment came in the 73rd minute when Senegalese referee Issa Sy awarded Espérance a penalty after consulting the VAR for a handball by Al Ahly defender Mohamed Hany. Algerian defender Mohamed Amine Tougai calmly converted the spot kick to the left of goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir, giving his team a precious winning goal.

The two sides will meet again next Saturday in Cairo for the return leg, which will be played behind closed doors without Al Ahly supporters in attendance. The sanction was imposed by the Confederation of African Football following crowd trouble during Al Ahly’s match against Morocco’s AS FAR in the final round of the group stage.

The winner on aggregate will face the victor of the tie between South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns and Mali’s Stade Malien. The South African side already secured a commanding 3–0 win in the first leg, making them the clear favorites to reach the semi-finals