In their debut year, Egyptian side Pyramids FC continued with their dream campaign booking a slot in the final of the Total CAF Confederation Cup for the first time ever, after two late goals saw them beat Guinean side Horoya 2-0 at the Complexe Mohamed V Stadium in Morocco on Tuesday.
Substitute Ibrahim Hassan and skipper Abdalla Mohamed scored one minute apart as the Egyptians finally broke down a resilient Horoya to book a final slot against Moroccan side RS Berkane on Sunday.
The Guineans had come off the break determined and looked set to cause an upset after Pyramids had wasted several chances in the first half. However, they were deflated with the two late goals and there seemed to be no way back for them.
The Egyptian side totally dominated the opening half, bossing 65pc of the possession and restricting Horoya into their own half. The Guineans didn’t have a single effort at goal in the opening 45 minutes with only one corner, telling just how much they seldom left their half.
Pyramids had their first chance of the game after 17 minutes when Mohamed Salama let fly a rocket from distance, but Horoya keeper Moussa Camara proved equal to the task with a brilliant save.
Salama tested Camara two minutes later with another shot from distance, but it didn’t do much to cause trouble.
Pyramids kept pushing and they came very close to the opener in the 36th minute, but Lamine Fofana was Horoya’s saviour clearing the ball off the line.
A good passing move by Pyramids saw Eric Traore cut the ball back for Omar Gaber, but his shot with the keeper out of his area was blocked by Fofana.
In the second half, Horoya seemed determined as they were more purposed in attack and sprayed the ball well across the pack.
Their hopes for a goal and probably taking charge of the tie was almost snapped on the hour mark, but a VAR check by referee Bamlak Tesema reversed a decision to award Pyramids a penalty. Eric Traore seemed to have been brought down inside the box by Abou Camara and Tesema initially pointed to the spot.
However, after consulting the pitch-side monitor, the Ethiopian referee overturned the decision.
But, Horoya’s reprieve didn’t last long as 14 minutes later, Pyramids were ahead when Hasan slotted in the opener barely two minutes after coming on.
The striker who won the title with Zamalek last season had just come on for John Antwi before he raced to a through ball and squeezed it past the keeper.
Just a minute on the turn, they were 2-0 up when skipper Mohamed scored a blinder of a goal with a sweetly taken curling effort from the left after turning his markers inside out.
Horoya thought they had halved the deficit with five minutes left, but Alseny Camara’s goal was chalked off by the VAR after he was adjudged to have picked the ball from an offside position.
Pyramids jealously guarded their lead to ensure they continued writing history in the competition, going all the way to the finale in their first-ever time of asking.
cafonline.com