Can't get better
Zamalek are three out of three as they take a share of the lead in the early football season, writes Eric Asmougha
Zamalek defeated their host Mansoura 3-0 to up their league-leading points total to nine and share the top slot with the oil company club ENPPI.
The match on Friday also saw embattled Hossam Hassan of Zamalek sitting on the bench for the second time in a row.
Zamalek approached the game carefully but with some lapses in the right wing where no one was available to convert the chances that came. Still, the goals were initiated from that wing in the few times the defending champions utilised it.
Hazem Emam scored the first in the 35th minute through a right wing cross from Mohamed Sadek. Sameh Youssef's first contact came off a defender's body, Abdel-Halim Ali missed the rebound but Emam pounced on the loose ball before it went out of bounds.
Early in the second half, Mansoura pressed hard for an equaliser but were goal shy with a couple of chances missed. The first was Nabil Hossam's shot that narrowly sailed off target.
Zamalek, which seemed to be losing momentum, doubled the lead in the 70th minute and added a third in the 87th minute. Gamal Hamza, determined to make a bigger name for himself this season, scored both goals.
Hassan, the club's 38-year-old veteran, has had run-ins with Zamalek's new Portuguese coach Vingada concerning playing time. Vingada has started with Hossam but in the past several matches has substituted the striker in the second half, decisions that have left Hossam fuming. The feud has yet to be resolved.
Despite Hossam's absence, Zamalek have nine points from three games for a perfect record and first place in the standings. They share top billing with ENPPI which, against the odds, edged Ahli 2-1 on Monday.
In only their second year in the league, ENPPI raced to a 2-0 lead in the first 10 minutes Amr Zaki opened the scoring with a close-range header and Abdel-Hamid Hassan doubled the score following a 25-minute floater that sailed above the head of Essam El-Hadari who was caught way off his line.
A penalty early in the second half, taken by Mohamed Gouda after midfielder Mohamed Shawki had been brought down, brought Ahli back into the game but there would be no dramatic comebacks for the red shirts against ENPPI, the team that defeated Ahli on the last day of the season last year, allowing Zamalek to take the league title.
Before last week's loss to ENPPI, Ahli had been on their way to restoring the confidence of their supporters after collecting the season's first points. Putting their league opening loss to Ismaili behind, Ahli sent Qanah packing 3-1 on Friday to win their first three points of the season and regain some badly needed self-confidence and fan support dented by two straight losses this season. The first was a 2-1 loss to Ismaili in week one, followed by a shock 4-0 drubbing at the hands of Enugu Rangers of Nigeria in the ongoing CAF Cup.
Ahli managed to garner the maximum points at the expense of visiting Qanah but not without a fight. Under pressure, Ahli employed fast attacking tactics from all positions against Qanah, missing a couple of easy chances in front of goal last Friday at Cairo Stadium.
On the other hand, Qanah, the newly-promoted opponent which had lost to Zamalek in the previous week, faced Ahli squarely with a firm defence and a tightly guarded midfield.
The deadlock was broken in the 42nd minute when substitute Osama Hosni's shot deflected off a defender's foot to beat the goalkeeper. Angolan international Gilberto, in his usual playmaker's role, initiated the pass that set up the good news for Ahli before the break.
Another substitute, Wa'el Riad, indiscriminately terrorising up front, was a real thorn in Qanah's side. His efforts were rewarded in the 80th minute for Ahli's second.
Qanah managed to pull one back through Emad Ayoub after beating Ahli's defence. But last season's top scorer Ahmed Bilal sealed the Ahli win in extra time after missing two golden opportunities.
