The National Times - Ali hat-trick helps champions Ahly crush Belouizdad

Hussein El Shahat, South African Percy Tau and Emam Ashour also scored for the record 12-time African champions in the Group C match, which was delayed by the Intercontinental Cup commitments of Ahly.

Aymen Mahious had given Belouizdad a shock 21st-minute lead which they retained until first half added time when Ali levelled with a looping close-range shot.

Ahly, hoping this season to become the first club to win the Champions League three times in a row, went ahead five minutes into the second half when Ali scored direct from a free kick.

After El Shahat stretched the lead, Ahly went on a late scoring spree, started by Ali in the 84th minute with a shot from just outside the area.

Ali, a 25-year-old forward born in Denmark and a Palestine international through descent, is the first player to score a hat-trick in a Champions League group match this season.

Victory took Ahly back to the top of Group C with seven points from three matches, having beaten Stade Abidjan of the Ivory Coast and drawn with Orlando Pirates of South Africa.

Pirates, who in 1995 became the first South African club to be crowned African champions, have five points, Belouizdad three and Stade one halfway through the group stage.

The remaining three matchdays are scheduled for January with the winners and runners-up in the four groups advancing to the quarter-finals.

F.Harris--TNT