Salif Coulibaly's late header put Al Ahly on track to qualify for the next round of the CAF Champions League by earning a 1-0 victory against Township Rollers, with holders Wydad Casablanca also winners on Saturday.
Last season's beaten finalists Al Ahly, the most successful team in the competition's history, took just four points from their first three Group A games.
Defeat away to Botswana side Township Rollers would have left Egyptian champions Al Ahly on the brink of an early exit, but Coulibaly came up trumps with a powerful 81st-minute winner from a corner.
Group leaders ES Tunis secured qualification with a 1-0 win at Kampala City of Uganda, who had goalkeeper Charles Lukwago dismissed late in the game for bizarrely electing to roughly lift an injured player on to a stretcher.
ES Tunis hit a 41st-minute winner when Haythem Jouini got in behind and side-footed a classy finish into the top-right corner.
Wydad eased past Horoya 2-0 thanks to first-half goals from Cheick Camara and Mohamed Ounajem, moving last season's champions three points clear at the top of Group C with two games remaining.
In Saturday's sole Group B game, leaders TP Mazembe dropped points for the first time in this season's competition as they were pegged back in a 1-1 draw at MC Alger, who occupy second spot.
