Mohamed Hany secures Al Ahly's semi-final spot in Fifa Club World Cup

A crisp second-half strike by Mohamed Hany sent Al Ahly through to the semi-final of the Club World Cup after they beat Monterrey 1-0 at Al Nahyan Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Saturday night.

The Egyptian giants will now face the might of Palmeiras, the champions of South America, at the same venue in the last four on Tuesday night.

The result was met with delight by the vast majority of the 9,396 spectators that were inside Al Wahda club’s ground.

Predictably, the Ahlawi vastly outnumbered the travelling Monterrey support, and they were in good voice from well in advance of kick off.

That continued throughout, despite the fact the Mexican side controlled the ball for the majority of the game. Monterrey had almost two-thirds of possession in the first half, and poured in shots – 13 in all – on the Ahly goal.

Yet Ali Lotfy, the Egyptian side’s goalkeeper, only had to field one of those efforts, and the clearest opportunities fell the way of the men in red.

In truth, Ahly should have been two-up by the interval, despite only acquiring possession sparingly. In the fourth minute, Ahmed Abdel Kader rolled a lame shot straight at Esteban Andrada, the Monterrey keeper, after Hussein El Shalat’s industry forged an opening against the run of play.

Another clear opportunity fell the way of Taher Mohamed, midway through the half, but the Ahly forward volleyed straight at Andrada from Ali Maaloul’s cross.

A similar sequence played out at the start of the second phase. Namely, Monterrey maintaining ownership of the ball, but doing little of note with it.

It counted against them on 53 minutes when Hany lashed a drive into the middle of the net after Esteban Andrade had flapped at a cross from the left flank.

Monterrey were stung into