All of Egypt’s “Big 3” were in action on Tuesday and the story of the day was how Al Ahly are coming together under new manager Ricardo Soares. After a couple of uninspiring results in the Portuguese gaffer’s first two games in charge Ahly delivered a comprehensive performance in their 4-0 victory over Future FC. Ahly are six points back of league leaders Zamalek with two games to make up and two points behind second placed Pyramids FC. Zamalek edged Arab Contractors 1-0 while Pyramids staged a late comeback to draw El Gaish 2-2 on the road.
Despite Ahly’s moments of inconsistency, playmaker Mohamed Magdy “Afsha” remains the steadiest presence in the side and his two first half goals helped pace his team to a dominant victory over top-5 side Future. Afsha opened the scoring on 23 minutes by converting a rebound after a couple of shots from his teammates came close. After Ali Maâloul’s penalty kick doubled the lead for Ahly, Afsha was on the spot again to make it 3-0 just before halftime by finishing following some hard work in the penalty area by striker Hossam Hassan. Ahmed Abdelkader finished the scoring before the hour mark for Ahly.
Zamalek had a much more difficult time at home against relegation battlers Arab Contractors. The visitors should have taken the lead in the opening twenty minutes but failed to finish several chances, allowing the league leaders to take the lead after young center back Hossam Abdulmaguid scored his first professional goal by heading in a 37th minute corner kick from playmaker Zizo. The missed opportunities saw Arab Contractors once again fail to earn a positive result with Ahmed Ali’s saved penalty just before halftime summing up their season to date.
Current second placed side Pyramids FC needed to scramble for a draw on the road against El Gaish. Young Nigerian forward Victory Beniangba continued his excellent form on loan with El Gaish by scoring his sixth goal of the season with a cool finish to put the hosts up before Ali Elfil’s spot kick doubled the lead before the hour mark. Pyramids FC manager Takis Gonias made an important double substitution that led to his side saving a point with Mohamed El Gabbas and Hussein El Sayed scoring in the final stretch to rescue Pyramids.
Highlights from all three games are below.
Al Ahly 4-0 Future FC
Zamalek 1-0 Arab Contractors
El Gaish 2-2 Pyramids FC
