After an early elimination from the CAF Champions League and a less than promising start to the Egyptian Premier League season, it appeared that hope was lost for Zamalek to achieve any of their goals this season. However, a spectacular run of form since the return of manager Patrice Carteron saw The White Knights come very close to wrapping up Egypt’s top division on Friday following a hard fought 1-2 victory on the road against Ceramica Cleopatra. A penalty kick finish from Ahmed Sayed “Zizo” in the 60th minute put Zamalek up and was enough for them to see out the crucial victory as Zamalek look to put themselves beyond reach of Al Ahly and break their rivals’ streak of five consecutive league titles.
Ceramica Cleopatra did not make it easy for Zamalek by opening the scoring in the 41st minute through Ahmed Mohsen, but an equalizer from leading scorer Achraf Bencharki just before the halftime whistle provided crucial momentum to the visitors. Bencharki was on hand to finish into an open net after Shikabala’s brilliant pass set up a shooting opportunity that was initially denied by Ceramica keeper Mohamed Amer. Zizo’s penalty kick came after a foul was given to Amer following a lengthy VAR review. Amer had no chance as Zizo sent the keeper the wrong way for the go ahead goal that was all Zamalek needed for the three points.
Al Ahly did their part to stay in the chase with a 4-2 victory over El Masry, but a four point deficit with only two games left to play means the odds of Ahly catching Zamalek are slim to none. A thrilling first half saw five goals scored between the teams with Masry responding twice to Ahly goals before Hussein El Shahat put the hosts up for good just before halftime with a slick finish past Masry keeper Essam Tharwat from a tight angle. Substitute Kahraba clinched the three points for Ahly with an 80th minute goal from an El Shahat assist.
Video of the goals from each match are below.
Ceramica Cleopatra 1-2 Zamalek
Al Ahly 4-2 El Masry
