Wasteful Jose Riveiro's Al Ahly drew with Porto in an eight-goal thriller in the Club World Cup's Group A fixture played at MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford on Tuesday morning.
The Red Devils came into the match aware that they needed a win by a good margin and hope Inter Miami would lose against Palmeiras in the other pool game to stand a chance of advancing.
Prior to the match, the Egyptian champions had drawn against the Major Soccer League outfit and lost to the South Americans. Palmeiras led the race with four points, the same as Lionel Messi's team, who had an inferior goal difference.
Abou Ali delivers in the first half
Riveiro's men started the game well, showing some good moves and runs with nice passing from the back all the way to the final third.
The African outfit needed 15 minutes to get their opening goal as Hamdi Fathi set up Wessam Abou Ali for a nice finish. It was their first strike of the ongoing tournament having drawn 0-0 with Inter Miami before falling 2-0 to Palmeiras.
Porto responded by unleashing some good attacks, notably the one that came in the 20th minute when William Gomes' rocket crashed off the bar with the goalkeeper well beaten.
Abou Ali thought he had scored his second three minutes later, only for the assistant referee's offside flag to cut short his celebrations.
The Portuguese outfit equalised in the 24th minute thanks to Rodrigo Mora's brilliance.
It looked like the first half would end even, but Fabio Vieira committed a foul in the danger zone in the stroke of halftime, leaving the officials with no alternative but to point to the penalty spot.
Abou Ali stepped up to give his team a deserved lead before the breather.
Five goals in the second half!
Five minutes after the pause, Gomes was given a lot of time on the edge of the 18-yard area. He maneuvered his way into a favourable position before hitting the back of the net to make it 2-2.
The dangerous Abou Ali then got his hat-trick a minute later, heading in Mohamed Hany's inviting cross to put the Red Devils in front for the third time in the game.
Porto were not ready to go down without a fight; on-loan Arsenal star Fabio Vieira played in a good corner which was nodded in by towering Samuel Aghehowa who had been introduced in the second half.
A screamer from the edge of the box by Ben Romdhane, in the 65th minute, restored Al Ahly's lead.
Achraf Bencharki, Omar Kamal, and Ahmed Kouka had big chances to put the game to bed, but failed the composure needed in the danger zone to keep Porto's hope of getting something from the match alive.
The equaliser eventually came in the 89th minute thanks to Pepe, who found the corner after a good buildup.
Riveiro will now get back home and work on his team's struggles to take the many chances created, as well as defensive frailties that let him down.
Palmeiras and Inter Miami advanced to the knockout phase, where they will play Botafogo and PSG, respectively.
