Wydad Casablanca Earn Spot in Champions League Final After Drawing With Sundowns

Wydad Casablanca Earn Spot in Champions League Final After Drawing With Sundowns

Byron Pillay
May 20, 2023 at 3:41 PM
In this article:
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CAF Champions League
Africa
  • Morocco’s Wydad Casablanca overcame a tough Mamelodi Sundowns over two legs in the CAF Champions League
  • Ah Ahly booked their place in the final of the continental tournament after beating ES Tunis, 4-0, over two legs
  • Themba Zwane and Peter Shalulile grabbed Sundowns’ two goals in the game, but it wasn’t enough to secure a win

Wydad Casablanca are heading to the CAF Champions League final.

The Moroccan side overcame a strong Mamelodi Sundowns side in the tournament's semi-final to book a place against Al Ahly in the final.

Wydad Casablanca, Sport, World, South Africa, Morocco, Mamelodi Sundowns, CAF Champions League, Al Ahly, Egypt
Wydad Casablanca are marching on to try and defend their CAF Champions League crown against Al Ahly. Image: @iDiskiTimes
Source: Twitter

Wydad and Sundowns were evenly matched through most of the two legs, and it needed a mistake by the Moroccan keeper, Youssef El Motie, to finally allow the South African side to break the deadlock.

El Motie threw out the ball to a defender early in the second leg's second half, but Sundowns swarmed the player quickly.

With the keeper still trying to get back toward his own goal, Themba Zwane pounced on the loose ball and slotted hit home.

With Wydad needing to score a crucial away goal to secure their place in the final, the Moroccan side pushed forward, which also afforded the DStv Premiership champions a lot more chance to kill off the game.

Despite their dominance for most of the second half, the Moroccan side grabbed the next goal and a decisive one it proved to be, as it gave them an away goal.

Peter Shalulile then got onto the scoresheet as he scored Sundowns’ second in the 79th minute of the game, giving them hope that it would be them joining Al Ahly in the final. Four minutes later, that dream was crushed as Wydad drew level again due to a Mothobi Mvala own goal.

A final against Al Ahly

The Moroccan side will now face a familiar foe in the two-legged final of the continental competition when they take on Al Ahly. The two sides also contested last year’s final, which Wydad won in front of their home fans.

Tau guides team to final

Percy Tau is proving what a talented footballer he is.

The South African attacker is enjoying a successful run for Al Ahly in the CAF Champions League and showing how valuable he can be.

He has the highest goal contributions in the tournament, with nine, helping his side to the final, Sports Brief reported.

Authors
Byron Pillay photo
Byron Pillay
Byron Pillay is a sports writer and Head of the Department at Sports Brief (joined in 2022) with over 10 years of experience in community journalism and a degree in journalism from Caxton's Cadet School.
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South AfricaDStv Premiership