Mohamed Aboutraika scored two minutes into stoppage time to give al-Ahly of Egypt a record-equalling fifth African Champions League title on Saturday.
The dramatic 1-0 triumph before a sell-out 52 000 crowd at the November 7 Stadium left Ahly 2-1 winners on aggregate and they became only the third club to successfully the title.
Midfielder Aboutraika scored his eighth goal of the competition with a low, left-foot volley past goalkeeper Ahmed Jaouachi after a Sfaxien defender partially cleared a cross.
Ahly won the territorial and possession battles after taking the initiative from the kickoff knowing they had to score otherwise Sfaxien would lift the trophy for the first time on the away-goal rule.
But pre-competition no-hopers Sfaxien squandered the best chance of the opening half when unmarked Issam Merdassi headed wide with the goal at his mercy.
And the Tunisian team, from the coastal town of Sfax, were robbed of a goal soon after half-time when Tarek Ziadi stroked the ball into the net only to be incorrectly ruled offside.
Television replays clearly showed Ziadi onside when the ball was threaded through to him and the Benin assistant referee made several other dubious decisions during the showpiece of African club football.
Jaouachi made an acrobatic save to foil Hossam Ashour, but luck was on the side of the Tunisian when a Flavio Amado shot rebounded off the crossbar with 11 mintues left.
With time ticking away, it appeared as if patient, cautious Sfaxien would bring the trophy to Tunisia a third time until Aboutraika struck and triggered an immediate exodus of Tunisian supporters. – Sapa-AFP