Vandenbroeck: Away goal gives us hope

by Staff Reporter

Monday Jun 05, 2023. 13:03

Wydad Casablanca head coach Sven Vandenbroeck believes the away goal could be a boon as they attempt to overturn a 2-1 deficit against Al Ahly in the second leg of the CAF Champions League final.

The Red Castle created the better chances in the first leg at the Cairo International Stadium on Sunday night but found themselves trailing 2-0 with 30 minutes left on the clock after Percy Tau opened the scoring at the end of the first half before Kahraba doubled the hosts’ lead in the 59th minute.

However, Saifeddine Bouhra stepped off the bench to halve the deficit four minutes from time to give Vandenbroeck’s side hope heading into the crunch clash at the Mohamed V Stadium on June 11.

Vandenbroeck hailed a solid performance from his players in Cairo as they made good use of the ball despite only having 35 per cent of the possession and insists Bouhra’s goal has opened the door for them to complete a turnaround on home soil.

“It can be a big advantage in seven days. I think we can be very happy with a 2-1 score,” the Belgian tactician said in the post-match press conference.

“At 2-0, you think you’re dead, but with an away goal, it opens all the doors. I’m very happy with what we did as a group. Everyone who was given a chance to play performed their role well.

“This is a very united group and we played as a team. I hope we can be rewarded with the title next weekend. If we were better offensively with the chances we got, maybe we could have come out with a draw. But all in all, I am satisfied with a 2-1 score.”