USM Alger were crowned CAF Super Cup champions for the first time after defeating Champions League holders Al Ahly 1-0 on Friday evening.
CAF Super Cup
Result: Al Ahly 0-1 USM Alger
Date: 15 September 2023
Venue: King Fahd International Stadium
The Red Devils, winners of the CAF Champions League for a record equalling 11th time, took on the first time winners of the CAF Confederation Cup, Alger.
The Egyptian giants' attack was spearheaded by the trio of Hussein El Shahat, Kahraba and Marwan Attia, as Bafana Bafana forward Percy Tau started from the bench.
The Algerian side had a strong start as they had early chances through the likes of Islam Fettouhi and Tumisang Orebonye but they were denied by goalkeeper Mohamed El Shenawy.
Al Ahly picked up their game as they had momentum after the first quarter of an hour and Reda Slim had a chance to break the deadlock on the half-hour mark but his shot in the box was smothered by goalkeeper Oussama Benbout.
The game turned around eight minutes before the break after Alger were awarded a penalty for a foul on Brahim Benzaza in the box following a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) review.
Zinéddine Belaïd eventually broke the deadlock for Abdelhak Benchikha's charges with a spot-kick into the bottom corner.
Al Ahly could not get going in the second and only had a threatening shot around the hour-mark after Ali Maâloul forced a save in the top corner by Benbout.
Marcel Koller eventually made a double attacking change moments later, as he brought on Tau in place of Attia and Salah Mohsen came on for Reda Slim.
Alger also carried a threat going forward as Khaled Bousseliou almost doubled their lead with 15 minutes to go with a strike from a rebound that brilliantly kept out by El Shenawy.
The Red Devils, however, lacked momentum in the dying minutes and despite ten minutes of stoppage time, could not carve out clear-cut opportunities, as Alger dealt with their long balls up field and held on to their first Super Cup title.
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