With a 1-0 aggregate score, Wydad Athletic Club fought off CR Belouizdad to play to a barren draw at the Mohamed V Complex in Casablanca on Saturday, securing a place in the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League semi-finals.
Last weekend, the Moroccan giants prevailed 1-0 in Algiers in the opening leg, and that result proved decisive. They will now face Petro de Luanda in the semi-finals, a team they thrashed 5-1 in the group stage.
The referee had to walk to the pitch-side monitor to examine whether goalie Ahmed Reda Tagnaouti had fouled Ahmed Ait at the final minute, which caused some tension for Wydad.
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However, as the referee whistled play on following the on-pitch review, the entire stadium, which was filled to the rafters, sighed a collective sigh of relief.
After another VAR review, goalkeeper Toufik Moussaoui was sent out for a retaliatory push on the face of Wydad’s Muaid Ellafi, Belouizdad was reduced to ten men at the stroke of 90 minutes.
After the Algerians’ replacements were expended, skipper Chemseddine Nessakh shifted from the left side of defence to goal for the five minutes of extra time.
It had been a very fought game throughout both half, with Belouizdad adamant about overturning the first-leg loss. A clearing from the Wydad keeper deflected off Kheiredine Merzougui in the 19th minute, but defender Amine Farhane recovered superbly to clear a yard off the line.
Merzougui floated in a near-post corner in the 21st minute, which was met by Chouaib Keddad, but the defender’s glanced header sailed inches wide.
Wydad, who had been pushed hard by the visitors in the first half, tried to be more aggressive coming forward in the second half.
They had chances, with Zouheir El Moutaraji’s long-range effort well saved by the keeper, and Aymane El Hassouni’s low effort from distance also pushed away.
Belouizdad upped the pressure on their opponents in the final quarter of an hour, and they were denied by the woodwork seven minutes from time when Karim Aribi’s header from the edge of the six yard box came off the upright after a Mohamed Bakir cross.
The Algerians put up a fight, but Wydad held on to keep their hopes of winning the Champions League alive.