Veteran Walid Soliman broke the aggregate deadlock after a goalless first encounter by scoring after 32 minutes at the Cairo International Stadium in the Egyptian capital.

Horoya, appearing in the knockout stage of the elite African club competition for the first time, fell further behind on 53 minutes as Islam Mohareb netted.

Rising star Salah Mohsen struck a third Ahly goal in the 69th minute and long-serving Ahmed Fathy completed the rout a minute into stoppage time.

The 4-0 aggregate victory earned Ahly a semifinal showdown with two-time champions ES Sétif of Algeria next month with the first leg in Egypt on October 2.

First-time semifinalists Primeiro Agosto of Angola tackle two-time African champions Espérance of Tunisia in the other half of the draw.

The final in early November will also be a two-leg affair and Ahly and Espérance are favoured to contest the decider with a US$2.5 million (2.1 mn euros) first prize on the line.

An anticipated success for Ahly came after the other three quarterfinals produced two shocks and one surprise on Friday.

Primeiro goalkeeper Adão Cabaça saved two penalties and DR Congo’s TP Mazembe had two goals disallowed in a 1-1 draw that left the Luanda outfit victors on away goals.

Taking his cue from Cabaca, Sétif goalkeeper Mustapha Zeghba made a string of superb saves to defy wasteful defending champions Wydad Casablanca in a 0-0 draw in Morocco.

Sétif qualified 1-0 overall having won the first leg through a goal from Senegalese Isla Daoudi Diomandé, his first in the Champions League since joining the club recently.

It took 177 minutes to settle an all-Tunisian tie between Espérance and slight favourites Étoile Sahel.

Esperance led 2-1 from the first leg and won the return match 1-0 through a goal from Ivorian Fousseny Coulibaly with only three minutes remaining.