Ahli managed to overturn a 2-1 deficit from the first leg to advance with a 3-2 aggregate win.

The Cairo giants avoided another shock in Africa's premier competition after holders Etoile Sahel were eliminated from the preliminary round at the hands of Zimbabwe's Dynamos.

Ahli followed arch-rivals Zamalek to the group stage after the men in white overcame Angola's Interclube earlier on Sunday.

Goalless Half

In the first half, Stars sat back to defend their advantage and tried to hit Ahli on the break.

Ahli struggled to break through the South African defensive fence despite dominating possession.

Angolan winger Gilberto put in an impressive display but he wasn't helped by Meteb's sluggish moves.

Meteb should have opened the scoring more than once.

He controlled a low cross from Mohamed Barakat midway through the first half and readied himself to shoot but his hesitation allowed Stars keeper to clear.

Stars had a rare opportunity in the 28th minute when the energetic Simba Marumo sidestepped Shadi Mohamed inside the area but his shot hit the side netting.

Meteb almost put Ahli in front two minutes later when he chested Hossam Ashour's chip on the edge of the area.

The unmarked striker hit a low shot that was finger-tipped to safety by custodian Wayne Sandilands.

Flavio also came close in the 33rd minute when he finally took advantage of another pinpoint cross from the superb Gilberto but his header went just wide of the post.

Deadlock Broken

Meteb finally broke the deadlock five minutes after restart to send the home fans into ecstasy.

Flavio's header from Gilberto's left-wing cross struck the bar and went into the path of the Egypt striker, who slotted home into an empty net.

Gilberto continued his brilliance and provided inch-perfect crosses for Ahli strikers.

Nine minutes past the hour mark, Flavio got ahead of Sandilands at the near post to head home Gilberto's in-swinging cross from the left flank.

Despite needing a goal to level the aggregate score, Stars failed to threaten Ahli goalie Amir Abdul-Hamid.