Gor Mahia have been eliminated from the 2024/2025 CAF Champions League by Egyptian giants Al Ahly.
The record FKF Premier League champions were knocked out of the competition at the second preliminary round on a 6-0 aggregate, following a 3-0 defeat in the second leg played at the Cairo International Stadium on Saturday night.
Gor Mahia brought back Gad Mathews, Samuel Kapen and Shariff Musa as the three changes from the squad that took the field in Nairobi last weekend.
The Red Eagles, meanwhile, made no changes to their starting lineup as Marcel Koller aimed to comfortably seal a place in the group stages of the competition in their fight to defend the African title.
Right off the bat, Al Ahly were giving Gor Mahia trouble. Hussein El-Shahat in particular was probing to open the scoring. First off, he cut into the box with a strong shot but K’Ogalo defended his advances well.
Gor Mahia looked to have a slow build-up before accelerating in the last third but they were not ultimately bringing the likes of Chris Ochieng and Shariff Musa into the game.
Al Ahly applied pressure on the Gor Mahia defense and found the back of the net in the 22nd minute through Rahim Rabi, who headed in the ball from a short-taken corner that resulted from Godfrey Ochieng’s miscalculated clearance.
Gor Mahia had an opportunity to equalize when Chris Ochieng drew a foul outside the box to win a free kick, but the resulting attempt from Austin Odhiambo went wide.
K’Ogalo keeper Gad Mathews was then called into action, rushing to clear the ball away from Al Ahly forward Wessam Abou Ali, who was a constant threat.
The first half ended with Al Ahly leading 1-0, and Gor Mahia needed to find a way to overcome the Red Eagles in the second half.
The home side got stronger as the second half went on controlling possession of the ball, as well as restricting K’Ogalo in attack.
Al Ahly capitalized on the visitors’ defensive sloppiness in the 53rd minute, extending their lead when Wessam Abou Ali converted Akram Tawfik’s assist.
The African champions were happy to sit on their two-goal lead and Lawrence Juma almost made an immediate impact off the bench when he threatened to halve the deficit with a strike that flew over the target.
Gad Mathews came to K’Ogalo rescue two minutes later, with a great reaction save to keep denying Kahraba.
Gor Mahia pushed for a consolation in the closing stages of the game but could not break through an in-form Al Ahly defense, as the Egyptian giants found their third goal in the 91st minute through second-half substitute Taher Mohamed Taher to sail into the group stages in pursuit of their record 13th African title.
Al Ahly: Mohamed El-Shennawy, Rami Rabia, Yasser Ibrahim, Mohamed Hani, Yahia Attiyat Allah, Akram Tawifk, Emam Ashour, Marwan Attia, Perci Tau, Wessam Abou Ali, Hussein El-Shahat
Gor Mahia: Gad Mathews, Ochieng Geoffrey, Owino Sylvester, Alpha Onyango, Omija Alphonse, Philemon Otieno, Morrison Enock, Odhiambo Austin, Shariff Musa, Ochieng Chris, Samuel Kapen