Abou-Treika lashed a left-footed volley from the edge of the area after Flavio Amado nodded the ball into his path, beating goalkeeper Ahmed Jaouachi as Ahli grabbed a memorable victory in Tunis.

The 92nd-minute heart-stopping winner thwarted Sfaxien's bid to win their first African title in history after being just two minutes away from it.

It also took Abou-Treika's goal tally to eight goals as he splits the top-scorer spot of the tournament with ASEC Mimosas star Didier Ya Conan.

The result gave Ahli an aggregate 2-1 victory despite traveling to Tunisia as underdogs after being held to a 1-1 draw in Cairo two weeks earlier.

Ahli became the third team to win Africa's premier club competition for two consecutive years after Englebert of Congo-Kinshasa and Enyimba of Nigeria.

They also tied Cairo arch-rivals Zamalek record's of five African Champions League titles and will represent Africa in the World Club Championship in Japan in December.

Defensive Mind

Ahli started the game with a defensive wall in the midfield, with Akwetey Mensah, Hossam Ashour and Hassan Mostafa deployed as defensive midfielders, leaving the electric Abou-Treika and Angola's Flavio alone up front.

Though, Ahli had the first chance when Flavio tried to beat advancing Jaouachi from long range but his ball settled uopn the roof of the net.

Sfaxien took over the midfield, setting their rhythm as playmaker Abdelkrim Nafti bamboozled right-back Mohamed Abdullah more than once sending dangerous crosses into Ahli's box.

Sfaxien defender Issam Merdassi, who scored the winner in a 1-0 victory over Ahli in the group stage, could have broken the deadlock midway through the first period.

Nafti's cross from the left found the unmarked Merdassi whose header hit the side netting instead of going home past stranded Essam Al-Hadari.

With just three minutes remaining before the interval, Ahli manager Manuel Jose threw striker Emad Metebinto the fray, replacing Mensah, triggering an attacking spree that took shape after the break.

Disallowed Goal

Ahli took full control over the second half and laid siege to Sfaxien Area's as the hosts depended on counter attacks in a bid to snatch the opener.

The Tunisians almost broke the deadlock in the 48th minute when Tarak Ziadi received a wicked pass behind Ahli's back three and drilled the ball past Al-Hadari but the goal was disallowed for offside.

However, the TV replay proved that Ziadi was covered by Ahmed Shedid and that it was a legal goal.

Joetex Frimpong was also flagged for another debatable offside shortly after as he was in a one-on-one position with Al-Hadari.

Jaouachi was called upon 13 minutes after re-start when he palmed away a venomous shot from Ashour who tried his luck after being set up by Flavio.

Flavio himself could have finished off the game 11 minutes from time, curling an unstoppable shot from the edge of the area but he saw his effort denied by the crossbar.

Flavio, though, had to say his word two minutes into the injury time.

He headed a loose ball to the anticipating Abou-Treika who arrowed a low left-footer into the near angle for a magic winner.