African champions Pyramids hit back to draw in Morocco

Pyramids of Egypt preserved an unbeaten record in defence of the CAF Champions League title by coming from behind to draw 1-1 at FAR Rabat of Morocco late on Friday.

The home team were ahead after just eight minutes of the quarter-final first leg when Ahmed Hammoudan scored his first goal of the campaign.

Mahmoud Zalaka equalised in the seventh minute of the second half in a match staged behind closed doors due to crowd trouble during an earlier FAR match.

The second leg is set for March 21 in Cairo and the overall winners will face another Moroccan club, Renaissance Berkane, or Al Hilal of Sudan in the semi-finals during April.

Pyramids and FAR also clashed in the quarter-finals last season with the Cairo club winning 4-3 on aggregate.

Surprise winners of the premier African club competition last season, Pyramids have won eight matches and drawn three in pursuit of back-to-back titles.

They pocketed four million dollars (3.5 mn euros) after defeating Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa in the 2024/25 final.

This week, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced that first prize had been increased by 50% to six million dollars. The runners-up prize is unchanged at two million dollars.

FAR rattled Pyramids by taking an early lead amid the silence of the Olympic Stadium in the Moroccan capital.

A pass into space behind the Pyramids defence found Hammoudan, who raced in from the left flank and beat veteran goalkeeper Ahmed El Shenawy with an angled shot into the far corner.

Both sides had spells of territorial dominance in the opening half, but there were no further goals before half-time with few clearcut chances.

Pyramids pressed for an equaliser from the restart and were rewarded on 52  minutes when Zalaka claimed his second goal of the African campaign.

FAR goalkeeper Ahmed Tagnaouti parried a close-range shot from Ahmed Atef after a corner and Zalaka reacted quickest to poke the loose ball into the net.

Mahmoud Mayele, the Democratic Republic of Congo striker and leading scorer in the Champions League last season with nine goals, was substituted after 83 minutes.

After scoring three goals in qualifiers this season, the 31-year-old has gone eight matches without adding to his tally.

The quarter-final in Rabat kicked off only at 2200 local time due to the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Footballers are allowed to break the dawn-to-dusk fast, but rarely do so.

Instead, the players eat and drink after sunset and matches kick off late with some spanning two days.

In another first leg, Sundowns built a 3-0 lead in Pretoria over Stade Malien, the first of Malian club to reach the knockout stage since the competition format and name were changed in 1997.