By Tamer Mohamed
Defending champions Al-Ahly was held to a disappointing home goalless draw as archrivals Zamalek claimed victory while Pyramids FC stunned at 16th matchday of the 2021-2022 Egyptian Premier League season.
At Alexandria’s Borg el-Arab Stadium, Zamalek earned a 2-1 comeback win against Al-Masry of Port Said.
Al-Masry’s centre-back Yasser Hamad opened the scoring in the 33rd minute as Zamalek’s winger Ahmed Sayed ‘Zizo’ levelled the score in the 59th minute.
Tunisian striker Seif Jaziri scored the winner for the White Knights in the 75th minute.
The victory temporarily cemented Zamalek on top of the Egyptian Premier League table with 38 points (six points clear) from 16 matches; ahead of archrivals Ahly still has three matches in hand.
The defeat dropped Al-Masry to 9th place with 19 points from 14 matches.
At the same week, defending champions Al-Ahly and Talae el-Geish had to settle for a point each as both sides lacked a cutting edge at Al-Ahly WE Al-Salam Stadium in Cairo.
The draw kept Red Devils in second place with 32 points from 13 matches as Talae el-Geish stayed in 11th place with 19 points from 16 matches.
In their previous game, Al-Ahly went down to a 1-0 loss at Al-Masry of Port Said at the Borg el-Arab Stadium in Alexandria.
The Port Said-based club goal came from Tunisian defender Haythem Ayouni in the 8th minute.
Elsewhere, Ceramica Cleopatra stunned Pyramids FC 1-0 at the Air Defence Stadium in Cairo.
Ceramica’s playmaker Mohamed Ibrahim scored the sole goal in the 29th minute.
The game marked the first appearance of Greek coach Gonias, who was named as Pyramids FC new coach.
The result pushed Ceramica Cleopatra 12th place with 17 points from 16 matches as Pyramids FC remained third in the table with 29 points from 14 matches.
At Petrosport Stadium in Cairo, NBE Club snatched a 2-1 victory over Eastern Company FC.
NBE Club opened the scoring through striker Nasser Mansi in the 25th minute as Eastern Company centre-back player Khaled Moustafa grabbed the equaliser in the 29th minute.
NBE Club left-winger Karim Bambou claimed the winner for NBE Club from the penalty spot in the 86th minute.
The victory pushed NBE Club to sixth place with 22 points from 15 matches as Eastern Company remained at 18th place with 10 points from 15 matches.
At Arab Contractors Stadium, Al-Ittihad of Alexandria was held to a 1-1 draw against Arab Contractors.
Mauritanian centre-forward Mamadou Niass scored for Arab Contractors in the 45+5 minute as Angolan centre-forward Mabululu scored the equaliser for Al-Ittihad in the 59th minute.
The draw pushed Al-Ittihad to 14th place with 16 points from 16 matches as Arab Contractors climbed to 15th place with 13 points from 16 matches.
Meanwhile, Enppi defeated Ismaili 2-0 at the Ismailia Stadium also at the16th matchday.
The petroleum side’s goals came from Nigerian centre-forward John Ebuka in the 68th minute and attacking midfielder Abdel-Rahman Emad in the 90+5 minute.
The result pushed Enppi to 10th place with 19 points from 15 matches as Ismaili stayed in 16th place with 11 points from 15 matches.
At Alexandria Stadium, Smouha beat Misr el-Maqassa 1-0.
The Alexandrian side’s sole goal came from left-winger Sherif Reda in the 83rd minute.
The precious win moved Smouha into fourth place on 26 points from 15 matches as Misr el-Maqassa stayed in 17th place (second from bottom) with 10 points from 16 matches.
At Ghazl el-Mahalla Stadium, Pharco FC and Ghazl el-Mahalla.had to settle for a point each after a pulsating 1-1 draw.
Centre-back Ahmed Abdel-Aziz opened the scoring for Pharco FC in the 12th minute as right-winger Walid Moustafa equalised for Ghazl el-Mahalla in the 63rd minute.
The draw left Pharco FC at 7th place at the table with 22 points from 16 matches as Ghazl el-Mahalla slipped to 8th place with 20 from 16 matches.
