Wydad Athletic Club hold Caf Champions League quarter finals advantage after forcing MC Alger to a 1-1 draw in first leg
After topping Group C of the Total Caf Champions League, Wydad came face-to-face with MC Alger in the quarter finals of the African top flight competition.
The Moroccan side played away from home in the first leg and contested MC Alger fiercely at Stade du 5 Juillet in Algiers on Friday night.
Their persistent dominance throughout the game finally paved way in the second half when Yahya Jabrane open the score from the spot.
Although it was a quite night due to empty stadium from the coronavirus restrictions, on the pitch was highly tensed clash between the two North African sides with Wydad looking the likeliest team to break the deadlock.
The away side broke their opponents defense down the left flank and second half substitute Mohamed Ounajem was fouled inside the penalty area. The former Zamalek man replaced Muaid Ellafi before winning that crucial penalty when Mohamed Hadded brought him down inside the box.
Jabrane kicked it beyond Ahmed Boutagga to the right side of the net. That moment could have been WAC’s third goal of the night should EL Kaabi and El Hassouni were accurate enough in the first half after both hitting the woodwork.
First was El Kaabi header went straight against the cross bar on the 35’ minute and when El Karti connected the rebound, the referee awarded an offside.
Some minutes later, El Hassouni hit the cross bar again after sending in a tremendous short from outside the box. It was a matter of lack of luck that went against Faouzi Benzarti’s men that saw the game on goalless draw after the first 45’ minutes.
MC Alger warmed back into the game with a fine leveler in stoppage time. Wydad had defended well to deal with all the dangerous cross from the home side but went to sleep when it was only eight minutes from running home with all three points which could have been the best results.
Miloud Rebiai rose above WAC defense while latching on Harrag cross on the right flank with a powerful header to the far post. Abdelkader Amrani’s side will have to overturn this scoreline in Morocco with at least 2-2 draw to see them through to the semifinals of the African Champions League.
