Stand-in goalkeeper stars as Wydad squeeze into semis

Stand-in Wydad Casablanca goalkeeper Youssef el Motie starred as the CAF Champions League title-holders scraped into the semi-finals with a 4-3 victory on penalties over Simba of Tanzania. 

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Backed by a passionate 45,000 sell-out crowd at the Stade Mohammed V, the Moroccan outfit won the quarter-final second leg 1-0 thanks to a 24th-minute goal from Senegalese Bouly Sambou.

The result in Casablanca levelled the aggregate score at 1-1 after Simba had built a 1-0 lead following the first leg in Dar es Salaam last weekend.

El Motie, deputising for injured Ahmed Tagnaouti, saved the third and fifth Simba spot kicks taken by Shomari Kapombe and Zambian Clatous Chama while Wydad converted the four they took.

It was a heartbreaking exit for Simba, who had been given little chance of success after being paired with the three-time African champions.

Victory for Wydad means a seventh semi-finals appearance since 2016 in the premier African club competition — a remarkable record of consistency.

They will face Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa or Chabab Belouizdad of Algeria in the semi-finals during May with the Pretoria outfit their likely opponents.

Sundowns hold a 4-1 lead when they host Belouizdad in one of three quarter-final second legs scheduled for Saturday.

– Great rivalries –

A Wydad-Sundowns showdown over two legs would rekindle one of the great Champions League rivalries of the modern era.

Wydad have won four and drawn two of eight previous meetings between the clubs in the group and knockout stages.

The Moroccans forced two corners in quick succession midway through the first half and the only goal of the return match stemmed from the second set-piece.

As the ball landed in the penalty area, Sambou nodded weakly goalward, but goalkeeper Ally Khatoro surprisingly failed to stop the ball landing in the corner of the net.

If the shot-stopper must take the blame for the goal, he brilliantly tipped over a much more powerful Sambou header soon after.

Sambou appealed for a penalty in first half added-time but the referee waved play on after a VAR review.

Wydad wasted a great chance to go two goals ahead on the night early in the second half when unmarked Ayman el Hassouni swept a cross over.

The VAR officials then became busy, cancelling a Wydad goal as El Hassouni was offside and rejecting another penalty appeal by the hosts, this time from Saifeddine Bouhra.

Simba were awarded a free-kick in front of goal midway through the half, but Sambou deflected the kick from Chama at the expense of a corner.

As full-time approached neither side came close to scoring with substitute Zouhair al Moutaraji, the two-goal star of the 2022 final, among those unable to break the aggregate stalemate.