Al Ahly eased into the second round of the FIFA Club World Cup with a 3-0 win over Auckland City in the tournament opener at the Ibn Batouta Stadium on Wednesday day evening.
After a slow start and rather below-par finishing, experienced winger Hussein El Shahat sent the traveling fans into a frenzy by opening the scoring just before the break.
He became only the fourth player, after Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, and Gareth Bale to have scored at three different editions of the global event.
The New Zealand outfit, who had Cape Town-born forward Ryan de Vries up front and former Mamelodi Sundowns man Emiliano Tade on the bench, rarely threatened and in the second half, Marcel Koller’s side took full control.
Just before the hour mark, Mohamed Sherif doubled their advantage when he was played in through on goal and he showed his composure to slot the ball past an onrushing Conor Tracey.
Percy Tau came onto the pitch as a late substitute for Ahmed Abdelkader and managed to add the third with a neat build-up and deft finish.
The win for the Egyptian giants will see them face MLS side Seattle Sounders in the next round of the competition on Saturday evening.
