Motion throughout CAF Champions League match between Pyramids FC and AS FAR, on the Olympic Stadium in Rabat, Morocco. Photograph: AFP
JOHANNESBURG:
Pyramids of Egypt preserved an unbeaten file in defence of the CAF Champions League title by coming from behind to attract 1-1 at FAR Rabat of Morocco late on Friday.
The house group have been forward after simply eight minutes of the quarter-final first leg when Ahmed Hammoudan scored his first objective of the marketing campaign.
Mahmoud Zalaka equalised within the seventh minute of the second half in a match staged behind closed doorways on account of crowd hassle throughout an earlier FAR match.
The second leg is ready for March 21 in Cairo and the general winners will face one other Moroccan membership, Renaissance Berkane, or Al Hilal of Sudan within the semi-finals throughout April.
Pyramids and FAR additionally clashed within the quarter-finals final season with the Cairo membership profitable 4-3 on mixture.
Shock winners of the premier African membership competitors final season, Pyramids have received eight matches and drawn three in pursuit of back-to-back titles.
They pocketed 4 million {dollars} (3.5 mn euros) after defeating Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa within the 2024/25 ultimate.
This week, the Confederation of African Soccer (CAF) introduced that first prize had been elevated by 50% to 6 million {dollars}. The runners-up prize is unchanged at two million {dollars}.
FAR rattled Pyramids by taking an early lead amid the silence of the Olympic Stadium within the Moroccan capital.
A move into area behind the Pyramids defence discovered Hammoudan, who raced in from the left flank and beat veteran goalkeeper Ahmed El Shenawy with an angled shot into the far nook.
Each side had spells of territorial dominance within the opening half, however there have been no additional objectives earlier than half-time with few clearcut probabilities.
Pyramids pressed for an equaliser from the restart and have been rewarded on 52 minutes when Zalaka claimed his second objective of the African marketing campaign.
FAR goalkeeper Ahmed Tagnaouti parried a close-range shot from Ahmed Atef after a nook and Zalaka reacted quickest to poke the unfastened ball into the web.
Mahmoud Mayele, the Democratic Republic of Congo striker and main scorer within the Champions League final season with 9 objectives, was substituted after 83 minutes.
After scoring three objectives in qualifiers this season, the 31-year-old has gone eight matches with out including to his tally.
The quarter-final in Rabat kicked off solely at 2200 native time as a result of Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Footballers are allowed to interrupt the dawn-to-dusk quick, however hardly ever accomplish that.
As a substitute, the gamers eat and drink after sundown and matches kick off late with some spanning two days.
In one other first leg, Sundowns constructed a 3-0 lead in Pretoria over Stade Malien, the primary of Malian membership to succeed in the knockout stage because the competitors format and title have been modified in 1997.
