CAIRO – Al-Ittihad of Alexandria, ZED FC and Ceramica Cleopatra claimed victories in their matches in the 6th week of the Egyptian Premier League 2023-2024 season as Zamalek and Pyramids FC dropped points.
At Cairo International Stadium, newly promoted side ZED FC rallied to beat Zamalek 2-1.
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 59th minutes.
This victory left Al-Ittihad in 4th place with 11 points from six games as Smouha remained in 7th place from six games.
Elsewhere, Ceramica Cleopatra stunned Pyramids FC 2-0 at Arab Contractors Stadium.
Algerian midfielder Ahmed Kendouci kicked off a breathless first half goal for Ceramica in the 21st minutes following a powerful shot into Pyramids FC goalkeeper Ahmed el-Shenawy.
The game had been wide open in the first half and the goal turned up the tempo even more, with chances flowing at both ends.
Pyramids brushed themselves down and went in search of an equaliser with winger Ramadan Sobhi whacking the bar in the 48th minutes.
Pyramids’ goalkeeper El-Shenawy made a diving one-handed save to keep out a header from Ceramica’s Nigerian centre-forward John Ebuka after a free kick into the box in the 59th minutes.
Pyramids had the better of the second half and went closest through winger Sobhi and striker Youssef Osama Nabih but Ceramica’s keeper Mohamed Bassam was in inspired form to keep them at bay.
Left-back player Mohamed Shokry added the second goal for Ceramica in the second minute of stoppage time 90+2’.
The result pushed Ceramica Cleopatra to 8th place with seven points from five matches as Pyramids FC remained on top of the domestic league with 13 points from six matches.
