Ahly are keen for a third successive Champs Lge final appearance

Ahly of Egypt are on course for a third successive Champions League final appearance with a goalless draw at Al Ittihad of Libya.

The Cairo giants have a major advantage going into the second leg of the semi-final tie in the Egyptian capital in two weeks.

Ahly are seeking to win the continent's top title for an unprecedented third year in a row and the draw in the first leg tie in Tripoli on Sunday kept that hope alive.

But they were almost caught five minutes into Sunday's first leg when Walid Mhadeb broke clear.

He beat the advancing Ahly goalkeeper Essam Al Hadari with a shot, only for the ball to stick on the wet surface and allow Ahmed El Sayed to clear it.

It was the closest the Libyans, surprise semi-finalists, came to scoring.

Ahly might have snatched a valuable away win in the last 12 minutes when they had two chances, both provided by mistakes from Al Ittihad's goalkeeper Samir Aboud.

Striker Flavio hit his shot wide and Mohamed Barakat had a shot cleared off the line.

The second leg is in Cairo on 7 October.

Al Hilal of Sudan beat Tunisia's Etoile Sahel 2-1 in the first leg of their semi-final in Omdurman on Friday.