Closer and closer
With three games remaining, Ahli are approaching the football finish line ahead of the rest. Eric Asomugha reports
Ahli maintained their slim two-point lead in the race for the league football title after getting past Tersana 2-0 on Sunday.
Second place Zamalek kept their hopes of overtaking Ahli alive with a 3-0 whitewash of the Arab Contractors on the same day. But time and games are running out for Zamalek. With just three matches left to wrap up the season, Ahli lead the pack with 60 points.
Ismaili, the defending champion, defeated their hosts Mehalla and will most likely finish third with 43 points. Surprise outfit the Border Guards, making their first appearance in the premiership, are fourth with 38 points after a goalless draw with visiting Baladia, while fifth place ENPPI, another league debutante, managed to stay right behind following a 1-0 home win over Ittihad of Alexandria. Misri are next with 33 points despite a 2-0 away loss to Goldi.
It took Ahli 55 minutes to break down Tersana's defence for the first goal scored by the league's top scorer Ahmed Bilal. The goal was a relief for Dutch coach Jo Bonfrere who was very much aware of the consequences of a home draw against Tersana at this crucial stage of the competition. He gambled, presenting an unexpected line-up by benching Mohamed Omara, Ahmed Salah Hosni and Hossam Ghali for Abu Musallam, Alaa Ibrahim and Ibrahim Said respectively.
On the other hand, coach Anwar Salama, who hoped to redeem his image following a 2-1 home loss to Mansoura in week 22, reorganised his boys in search of an equaliser. In one of the dangerous moves to level up, Hani Hassan outplayed Ahli's defenders only to be stopped by goalkeeper Essam El- Hadari.
In the dying minutes of the game, substitute Mohamed Fadl struck again for the second goal to assure Ahli's victory.
At Arab Contractors Stadium, a tough game was expected from the Contractors against Zamalek in order to escape further from the relegation zone.
Both teams came into the game pretending to have nothing at stake. Zamalek was unable to string good passes to tidy up the attack for an early goal while the Arab Contractors failed to take advantage of the loopholes created by their opponent.
Zamalek had the first serious chance of taking the lead in the 30th minute. Tarek El- Said's cross from the left flank was deflected off Hossam Hassan's leg before being shot wide by a well-positioned Abdel- Halim Ali.
Seven minutes later, the hosts responded with a calculated attack into 18m box but goalkeeper Abdel-Wahed El-Sayed parried the shot it away. Mamdouh Abdel-Hay shot the rebound only to be intercepted once more by the alert goalkeeper.
Following the great escape, Zamalek launched a counter attack. The most impressive player on the pitch, Gamal Hamza, collected the ball and rounded the entire defence, including the goalkeeper, to slam the ball home for Zamalek's first goal.
After the break, the Contractors dominated a greater part of the 45 minutes but poor finishing was their weak point. In one exceptional move, Abdel-Hay mesmerised Zamalek's defence inside the box only for his well-aimed shot to be beautifully saved by the keeper.
A 72nd minute strike by Ali for the second goal and the third by Hassan, engineered by Hamza, dealt a big blow to the Contractors who now occupy fourth position from the bottom of the table with 24 points. Aswan is dead last with six points, followed by Goldi with 13 points and Ittihad with 22 points.
Matches of week 24 will be played tomorrow with the following fixtures: Misri / Mehalla; Zamalek / Goldi; Tersana / Arab Contractors; Baladia / Mansoura; ENPPI / Border Guards; Ittihad / Ismaili; Aswan / Ahli.
