Percy Tau’s Al Ahly lose to Al-Hilal in their CAFCL Group B opener

Al Ahly got their CAF Champions League group stage campaign on a bad foot as they lost 1-0 to Sudanese giants Al-Hilal on Saturday afternoon.

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Following Mamelodi Sundowns’ 3-1 win over Coton Sport on Friday which took them to six points, all eyes were on Percy Tau and his Al Ahly teammates.

Al Ahly were expected to easily beat Al-Hilal as they are strong favourites to finish in the top two alongside Sundowns and qualify for the quarter-finals.

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However, it wasn’t to be as Makabi Lilepo’s solitary goal proved to be enough for Al-Hilal to pick up maximum points in front of their home fans.

It could have been worse for Al Ahly had Lilepo not missed a penalty awarded to Al-Hilal in the 66th minute.

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PERCY TAU HAD TO BE SUBSTITUTED BY AL AHLY

On the day, Percy Tau led Al Ahly’s frontline as a lone striker but he was tightly marked until Marcel Koller took him off in the second half.

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It was in the 75th minute when Mahmou Magdy took over from Tau on the pitch as Al Ahly looked for an equaliser.

However, despite throwing everything in the final 15 minutes, Al Ahly were unable to find the back of the net as Al-Hilal stood firm.

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