Percy Tau's Al Ahly stun Al Ittihad and Karim Benzema to join Manchester City in Fifa Club World Cup semi-finals

Marcel Koller's Al Ahly side ran rampant over Saudi Arabian champions Al Ittihad on Friday as the Egyptian side won 3-1 to advance to the semi-finals of the competition.

The Red Devils got their noses in front in the 21st minute when they were awarded a penalty and it was defender Ali Maaloul who stepped up to take responsibility.

He made no mistake from the penalty spot after waiting for goalkeeper Abdullah Al Muaiouf to move before placing the right down the middle.

Benzema then got a chance to put his side level before the break when referee Jesus Valenzuela pointed to the penalty spot after consulting VAR.

However, the former Real Madrid star sent the penalty towards the left-hand side of the goal and keeper Mohamed El Shenawy guessed the right direction and pulled off a wonderful save to deny him.

A couple of minutes after the hour mark, the African champions doubled up when Mahmoud Kahraba played a through pass to Hussein El Shahat who unleashed a shot from the edge of the box to rattle the net.

Kahraba was again the architect for Al Ahly's third goal as he assisted Emam Ashour. Benzema had the last say in stoppage time but it was a little too late.

Bafana Bafana and Al Ahly's jersey No.10, Percy Tau might not have got his name on the score sheet but he was influential in terms of instigating moves forward and helping Al Ahly launch attack after attack.

French superstar Benzema failed to prove his worth as the one-time Ballon d'Or winner missed a spot kick at a crucial stage of the game.

Had Benzema converted the penalty, both sides would have gone into the interval with their chins up. However, he did get the consolation for his side in the dying moments of the game but it counted for pretty much nothing.

El Shenawy was the big difference for Al Ahly in this match, especially earlier on when the Jeddah side flooded his defence with waves of attack but he remained resolute to keep a clean sheet as he also saved a penalty. He received a rating of 89.4.

Al Ahly will now advance to the semi-finals where they will take on Brazilian side Fluminense. The winner between Fluminense and Al Ahly will advance to the final where there is a possibility of meeting English heavyweights Manchester City who will play Japanese outfit Urawa Reds in the other semi-final clash.

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