Al Ahly secured their place in the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League final on Friday night, following their 4-0 aggregate victory over Tunisia’s Esperance at the Cairo International Stadium.

The record 10-time title winners of Egypt won the semi-final 4-0 on aggregate after building a 3-0 first-leg lead in Rades.

Hussein Elshahat scored the solitary goal for the Egyptian Red Devils in the first half to secure the home victory and progress to their sixth final in seven seasons.

The home team settled early on the ball and appeared relaxed in dominance during the first five minutes of the match. In absorbing the pressure, Esperance were seen to motivate Al Ahly in counter-attacking situations.

After a conservative start, Ahly broke the deadlock after 21 minutes, and it was the South African wizard Percy Tao who was the chief orchestrator again, CAFonline.com reports.

After his brace in the first leg, Tau turned provider this time round, sending Elshahat through on goal with a brilliant defense-splitting pass, the latter clipping the ball over the advancing keeper.

Esperance had a chance to respond three minutes on the turn, needing five goals now to turn the tide in their favour. However, Mohamed Ali Ben Hamouda saw his effort on the half-volley deflected for a corner.

In the second half, Ahly continued with their conservative approach, choosing to keep possession and frustrating Esperance who were in desperate need of a goal.

The Tunisians almost got the leveler in the 71st minute off a counter-attack. Ben Hamouda was away on his wheels on the right, capitalizing on the space left by right back Mohamed Hany who had been upfield in the attack.

He sliced in a low cross into the area, but Moataz Zaddem blazed his effort over.

In the final minutes of the game, Ahly had some chances to burry off the game. Substitute Ahmed Abdelkader came to the end of a beautiful passage of play by the hosts but couldn’t keep his final shot at goal low.

Mahmoud Kahraba also had a late chance, but his shot was well saved by the keeper.

The Red Devils will now await the winner between holders Wydad Athletic Club and South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns who play on Saturday in Pretoria. They faced Wydad last season, losing 2-0 to relinquish their title.

It was the fourth consecutive season in the premier African club competition in which Ahly won a semi-final by four goals overall.

The Cairo Red Devils beat Wydad Casablanca of Morocco 5-1 in 2020, Esperance 4-0 the following year, and Entente Setif of Algeria 6-2 in 2022.