Ahly’s Portuguese coach Manuel Jose Da Silva has expressed great delight after his side’s precious 2-0 win over Mouloudia Alger in the CAF Champions League on Friday.

“Mouloudia is a good team but they lack the sufficient experience to play big teams like Ahly,” Jose said after the match. “We had a poor start but we were able to recover quickly and scored twice. We squandered a lot of scoring chances that could have doubled our tally,” he added.

Two goals by striker Emad Meteb granted the Cairo giants their first win in the tournament’s group stage as they were held 3-3 at home against Morocco's Wydad Casablanca before suffering a 2-1 loss to Tunisia's Esperance.

The outstanding performance of the Red Devils’ defenders was a key element of yesterday’s success, according to the 65-year-old coach who was full of praise for his teenage defender Rami Rabia.

“Rabia is the future of Ahly defence,” explained Jose.

The six-time African champions now share the summit of Group B with Wydad and Esperance (four points for each), who meet Monday.

Soliman and Naguib, Ahlys’ weapons in Algeria

Ahly will be in a must-win situation when they travel to Algeria to play the second leg against Mouloudia on 28 August to ensure their qualification for the coming round and the club’s new summer signings will have the chance to prove their worth.

“Newcomers, defender Mohamed Naguib, striker Sayed Hamdy and playmaker Walid Soliman, will be available for the coming game against Mouloudia,” Jose said.