An Al Ahly squad weakened by injury and lack of form slumped to another disappointing result on Wednesday, drawing 0-0 at home against Pharco FC. The hosts were the more dangerous side but both teams had trouble finding the final touch and Ahly supporters are beginning to question if their side will even reach the top-2 by the end of the season. Ahly are three points behind second placed Pyramids FC and now are ten behind league leaders Zamalek.
Ahly had their first excellent chance in the opening ten minutes when a ball from out wide was redirected towards his own goal by young Pharco forward Ahmed Sherif but goalkeeper Mohamed Sobhi did brilliantly to react and make a save. The first half continued to see both teams show signs of causing danger but poor passing in the final third resulted in a stalemate by halftime.
The big moment arrived in the 71st minute when two Ahly players set for exits at the end of the season combined to apparently give their side the lead. Mozambique national team winger LuÃs Miquissone measured his pass to pick out Percy Tau’s run and the substitute finished high over Sobhi to spark his celebration with the home support. However, a Video Assistant Referee review determined that Tau was offsides and closer examination showed that VAR might have made a mistake with the decision.
Late on VAR intervened again in the 87th minute to send off Pharco’s Mahmoud Emad only a few minutes after he came on when his high challenge caught Ahly substitute midfielder Mohamed Mahmoud. Ahly pushed with their numerical advantage in the final minutes but it was not their day as Miquissone’s long range effort bounced off the post and wide in the final seconds.
Highlights from the match are below.
