كتب : Omar Shoeb
Al-Hadari, who a fortnight ago stopped two penalties to hand Egypt the African Cup of Nations after a 4-2 shootout against Ivory Coast, superbly denied Noureddine Bobou and Mohamed Al-Fadhli’s spot-kicks.
Emad Al-Nahhas, Osama Hosni, Shadi Mohamed and Islam Al-Shater scored to help Ahli to their second Super Cup and 10th continental title after both regular and extra times ended in a goalless draw.
The Egyptian champions first won the Super Cup in 2002 after beating South African club Kaizer Chiefs 4-1 also under coach Manuel Jose’s rule.
Ahli, playing without international trio Mohamed Barakat, Mohamed Shawki and Wael Gomaa and Angolan midfielder Gilberto due to injuries, had a rough time penetrating the Moroccan defense.
Despite the mediocre performance, Ahli’s players contained their opponents for the majority of the first-half and came close to scoring on two occasions.
Emad Meteb was the culprit for the homeside when he astonishingly fired over the crossbar with the goal at his mercy after a brilliant exchange with Mohamed Abou-Treika in the 15th minute.
Eight minutes later, Angolan Flavio Amado fired a swerving long-range drive that was parried by FAR keeper Tarek Al-Jarmouni to a corner-kick.
The visitors took things into their own hands and ended the first-half on a high after Hafid Abdessadek forced Al-Hadari into a great save just before the interval.
Both sides had a chance to score the initiative in the second-half that saw some dismal play.
Al-Jarmouni was on queue to clear Al-Nahhas’ superb header off the goal line in the 73rd minute.
Ahli’s biggest scare came only one minute from regular time when FAR launched a swift break that found its way to substitute Adil Lotfi who fired past Al-Hadari only for captain Shadi Mohamed to clear off the line .
Meteb continued his below-par showing in extra time as he fired wide from close-range after a glossy back heel from Hosni had put him in point-blank range, sending the game to a shootout.