Ahly s Mahmoud Kahraba (C) celebrates with his teammates after scoring against Smouha (Photo: Ahly s official Twitter account)
Kahraba has served a lengthy suspension imposed by FIFA's disciplinary body after he breached his contract with Ahly's arch-rivals Zamalek to join Portuguese side Aves in 2019.
However, he could be subject to further sanctions after failing to pay a $2 million fine to Zamalek. FIFA said in a letter to Zamalek that its disciplinary body will discuss the matter in a meeting on 2 February.
Kahraba found the net, provided an assist and had a hand in another goal after some dreadful blunders from Smouha keeper El-Hani Soliman as Ahly strolled to the final for the third successive season.
Smouha scored a late consolation after Hossam Hassan, who is on loan from Ahly, converted an 89th-minute penalty.
Ahly will meet Pyramids FC in the final after the big-spending club defeated holders Zamalek on penalties following a 1-1 draw on Monday.
Kahraba's previous appearance came with Turkish side Hatayspor, where he played on loan from Ahly last season, in May last year. He was hit with the FIFA ban two months later.
Soliman errors
Ahly needed eight minutes to open the scoring against Smouha when Kahraba's tame, low cross squirmed between the legs of Soliman and found Ahmed Abdel-Kader for an easy tap-in into an empty net.
Kahraba was the architect again three minutes later, laying off the ball to defensive midfielder Hamdi Fathi, whose weak shot went beneath Soliman. The keeper was taken off just past the quarter-hour mark following a disastrous show.
The 28-year-old Kahraba then capped his efforts to end the match as a contest in the 36th minute after some superb individual work from winger Hussein El-Shahat.
El-Shahat neatly controlled a long ball, held off his challenger on the edge of the area and slipped a pass to Kahraba, whose delicate chip went over substitute keeper Omar Salah and into the net.
Smouha's solitary chance fell to Hossam Hassan when he fired high over after a miscued defensive clearance released him.
Kahraba could have scored again on the hour mark but he was foiled by Salah in a one-on-one. He was substituted shortly after, with the ecstatic fans giving him a standing ovation and chanting his name.
Ahly gave debuts to new recruits Marwan Attia and Mohamed Dhaoui, with the latter showing flashes of his talent after joining from Tunisian side Etoile Sahel.
The only downside to Ahly's win was an injury sustained by Hamdi Fathi, compounding the team's injury problems just a few days before they meet Zamalek in the Cairo derby on Saturday.
(For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.)
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