Zamalek continue to get closer and closer to their first Egyptian Premier League title since the 2014-15 season as The White Knights earned a crucial 1-0 victory against relegation threatened side Wadi Degla on Wednesday, pushing their lead at the top to four points. With rivals Al Ahly failing to record a win in their 0-0 draw at El Gaish, the African champions’ streak of Egyptian top level titles looks set to end at five with only three games remaining in the season to make up the deficit.
The winning goal for Zamalek came from struggling forward Marwan Hamdy, the 28-year-old finishing superbly with a header from an Ahmed Sayed “Zizo” cross in the 59th minute for his first league goal of the season. Zamalek were dominant throughout the match and deserved their three points, with only poor finishing and brave last ditch defending from Wadi Degla keeping the margin of victory from being greater. From the visitors’ perspective, the loss continues to drop Wadi Degla further into the relegation zone with four points separating them from safety.
Playing at the same time, Ahly looked like they were on the verge of finding a goal in the first half but their dominance eventually gave way to an uninspired second half performance with the team’s performance declining due to apparent fatigue. The closest Ahly came to breaking the deadlock was in the 39th minute when Yasser Ibrahim lobbed the El Gaish keeper but saw his shot cleared off the line just in time by a desperate lunge from Eslam Gamal. In the end the many matches Ahly have had to play seemed to have caught up to them as they failed to provide the necessary breakthrough to find a way through the El Gaish defense.
Video of the winning goal by Marwan Hamdy for Zamalek is below.
Zamalek 1-0 Wadi Degla
