Championship seasons are defined by the moments when teams defy defeat to achieve victory when it is least expected, and Al Ahly’s 2-1 victory at ENPPI on Saturday put the African champions back on pace to surge to top spot in the Egyptian Premier League. Ahly move to within four points of rivals Zamalek with three games still to make up and are now within reach of second placed Pyramids, who suffered another frustrating result with a 1-0 loss to Al Ittihad in Alexandria on Sunday.
ENPPI played a mostly flawless match against a heavily rotated Ahly starting eleven and appeared to have three points in their grasp when Mostafa Shalaby put his team in the lead in the 76th minute with an excellent free kick. However, Ahly manager Pitso Mosimane and his team pulled off a comeback for the ages in an extended second half stoppage time session and it was Tunisia national team left back Ali Maâloul who was the hero. Maâloul blasted the leveler home on the fourth minute of stoppage time before finishing from an Ahmed Abdelkader cross in the seventh minute to complete an unlikely brace.
Meanwhile, on Sunday it was Pyramids who continued to dominate possession and do nothing with it in their defeat to Al Ittihad. The Cairo side failed to take advantage of their opportunities and are still on the search for a striker who can deliver consistently with Tunsian Fakhreddine Ben Youssef and South African Florian Lakay continuing their struggles to find form. In the 83rd minute it was Ittihad striker Mabululu who bounced his header home from a Sayed Salem free kick for the Angolan’s tenth goal of the season and a crucial win for the Alexandria club, who move up to twelfth position.
Future FC moved into fourth place with a well earned 1-0 road victory at Al Masry. Former Ahly midfielder Karim Walid “Nedved” scored the match’s only goal for the Premier League newcomers, firing in a first time finish from a low Mostafa El Badry cross. Future are not too far off from the “Big 3” in Egyptian football, sitting five points back of second placed Pyramids and seven back of Zamalek.
Highlights from all of the weekend’s matches are below with the other games featuring a dominant win for Ceramica Cleopatra and a draw between El Ismaily and National Bank of Egypt.
ENPPI 1-2 Al Ahly
Al Ittihad 1-0 Pyramids FC
Al Masry 0-1 Future FC
Ceramica Cleopatra 4-1 Misr Lel Makkasa
El Ismaily 2-2 National Bank of Egypt
