Al-Ahly, Mahalla, Gouna grab wins in Egyptian Premier League

CAIRO – Al-Ahly, Baladeyet el-Mahalla and El-Gouna FC claimed wins in their matches in the 6th week of the Egyptian Premier League 2023-2024 season.

At Arab Contractors Stadium, reigning Champions Al-Ahly defeated Arab Contractors 2-1.

Al-Ahly had the better chances as Arab Contractors’ goalkeeper Mahmoud Aboul-Saoud kept his side on terms with outstanding saves.

Only Aboul-Saoud brilliance prevented Al-Ahly from doubling their advantage before the break when he somehow managed to claw striker Anthony Modeste’s volley onto the underside of his crossbar.

In the 17^th minutes, Ahly’s midfielder Emam Ashour fired a long-range shot that hit the crossbar and rebounded into the playground.

The Red Devils’ took the lead in the 48^th minutes through winger Taher Mohamed Taher with a brilliant curling effort inside a crowded penalty area as they went into the break ahead.

In the 85^th minutes, Ahly’s right-back Mohamed Hani knocked in a second from a smart pass from team-mate Ashour and unleashed a quite stunning strike.

Modeste was denied what would have been a remarkable header to give Al-Ahly the third goal but it was saved by keeper Aboul-Saoud.

In a last ditch throw of the dice, Contractors were awarded a penalty, which Ugandan defender Joseph Ochaya blasted into the net to claim his side’s sole goal in the 89^th minutes.

The result pushed the Red Devils to fifth place in the domestic league standing on nine points from three matches and still has three games in hands as Arab Contractors remained at 17th place with two points from six ties.

At El-Mahalla Stadium, Baladeyet el-Mahalla snatched a 3-2 win over Pharco FC.

Baladeyet el-Mahalla seemed on course for victory when centre-forward Hossam Ashraf gave them the lead after 28 minutes from the penalty spot.

Midfielder Islam Marzouq netted the second in the 32^nd minutes as Nigerian left winger Favor Akeem added the third in the last minute of the stoppage time (45+3’).

Pharco’s goal came from left winger Shoukri Nagib in the 57^th minutes from the penalty spot.

Forward Ahmed Sherif put the finishing touches on an incredible sweeping Pharco move to make it 3-2 in the 76^th minutes.

The victory left Baladeyet el-Mahalla in ninth place with eight points from five games as Pharco FC remained in 15th place with four points from six games.

Elsewhere, El-Gouna stunned El-Dakhleya 2-0 at El-Gouna Stadium.

Moroccan winger Ahmed Belhadji opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 22^nd minutes as Nigerian striker Gabriel Chukwudi netted the second two minutes later to secure his side’s three precious points.

The win pushed El-Gouna to 8th place with eight points from five matches as El-Dakhleya dropped to 16th place with four points from six matches.

In the same week, newly promoted side ZED FC rallied to beat Zamalek 2-1 at Cairo International Stadium.

In the third minute, Tunisian striker Seifeddine Jaziri took the lead for Zamalek after converting a cross from Senegalese winger Ibrahima Ndiaye into ZED’s net.

Zamalek pressed forward but failed to turn possession into goals.

The White Knights had missed a glorious opportunity in the 12th minutes when Ndiaye sent a cross that ZED’s goalkeeper Ali Lotfi failed to catch, falling in front of playmaker Youssef Obama who shot the ball but was thwarted by ZED’s defense.

ZED grabbed the equalizer nine minutes prior to half-time through left winger Mostafa Ziko, who received a pass from Zamalek’s defender Mohamed Abdel Ghani while attempting to clear a cross in front of Zed’s striker Shady Hussein inside the penalty area.

ZED’s left-back player Mohamed Ashraf also attempted to score in the 42nd minutes, but the shot was far from the goal.

Zamalek controlled the early minutes of the second-half in an attempt to score second goal, but without any danger.

Zamalek had the better chances as ZED’s keeper Lotfi kept the newly promoted side on terms with outstanding saves until the drama of the final minutes.

Mahmoud Abdel-Razek ‘Shikabala’ came off the bench on 60 minutes and took a long range shot, it is on target but ZED’s keeper can easily save.

As ZED mounted one last attack, Angolan striker Dilson Kamone struck a decisive winner in the 81st minutes to spark scenes of jubilation, inflicting Zamalek’s second defeat of the season

Zamalek suffered their first domestic defeat of the season last week at the hands of Enppi 2-1 at the Arab Contractors Stadium.

The result moved ZED FC to 3rd place in the table on 12 points from six matches as Zamalek dropped into 6th place with eight points from six matches.

At Alexandria Stadium, Al-Ittihad of Alexandria snatched a 1-0 win over Smouha.

The game sole goal came from Angolan striker Mabululu from the penalty spot in the 59^th minutes.

This victory left Al-Ittihad in 4th place with 11 points from six games as Smouha remained in 7th place from six games.