Kick-off

Ahmed Morsy reports on the re-ignition of the Egyptian League

---

Click to view caption

Zamalek opens its league campaign with a 2-0 win over Spinning Mahala; the league standings after the first week

The first week of the Egyptian domestic League began on Friday with three matches. Misri thrashed Ittihad 5-2 in Alexandria on Friday, only to top the League table. Misri coach Hossam Hassan, who is widely appreciated by Misri fans for turning around the team's fortunes, said that his hard work has clearly started to pay off. Hassan, 41, took charge of the Port Said-based club while the team were struggling at the bottom last season, lifting them up for a ninth-place finish in the League. A hat- trick by forward Mohamed Al-Gabbas in the last ten minutes of the game this week gave Misri a thrilling win over Ittihad away from home.

"Our aim was to win, but we didn't expect to win by such a wide margin. I'm very happy that Misri opened their League campaign in such way," Hassan said. Meanwhile Ittihad coach Taha Basri called on the team's fans to be patient despite a disappointing start. "Yes, we did make mistakes, but it is still too early to judge our performance. We will work on doing better."

In the second match on Friday, a last- gasp goal by striker Ahmed Gaafar gave Egypt Telecom a 1-0 victory over newly-promoted side Police Union in the Egyptian League opener.

As for the third match, Zamalek kicked off their Egyptian League campaign with a 2-0 victory over Spinning Mehalla, but the match was flawed by a scuffle between Gamal Hamza and the Brazilian left-back Ricardo Alves. As a result, Zamalek played with 10 men in the second half due to the dismissal of the Brazilian. The win is Zamalek's first in a League opener since the 2004-2005 season.

Mehalla were made to pay for their miss in the 10th minute when Amr Ramadan headed Ricardo's right-wing free kick into his own net. A few minutes after the game restarted, Alaa Kamal, who joined Zamalek from Arab Contractors, made a quick impact when he set up Mahmoud Fathallah for Zamalek's second goal in the 48th minute. His pinpoint cross found Fathallah who dived at the near post to head home past Mehalla's goalkeeper Massenga to ensure the win. Later, Zamalek's Ricardo was banned for three matches by the Egyptian FA due to an improper conduct over an argument with a team- mate. "The player has been also handed an EGP 10,000 fine," the Egyptian FA said in a statement on their official website. The Brazilian engaged in a scuffle with team-mate Gamal Hamza in Zamalek's 2-0 victory over Ghazl Mahalla.

Hamza, known for being a temperamental forward, slapped Ricardo and the latter responded in the same manner. Zamalek will sidestep the club's internal regulations to impose heavy fines on Ricardo and Hamza, assistant coach Tarek Yehia said.

Meanwhile on Saturday, Reda El-Weeshi notched twice on his debut to lead Arab Contractors to a 2-0 victory over Al-Gaish. Al-Weeshi, who joined Contractors from Ahli, opened the scoring in the 62nd minute. In addition, the combative striker doubled the lead eight minutes from time after converting a pinpoint cross.

On the same day, 10-man Ismaili made an entertaining display to defeat Enppi 3-1 at home and claim all three points. Talented midfielder Abdullah Saied put the hosts ahead in the 19th minute through a fortunate strike. And Egypt's national striker Mohamed Fadl doubled Ismaili's advantage in the 26th minute when he latched onto Mohamed Hommos pass inside the area, shrugged off a challenge from his marker to side-foot the ball into the roof of the net.

However, Die Foneye narrowed the gap in the 32nd minute when he rose at the far post to head home Ahmed El-Muhammadi's pinpoint cross. Accordingly, Enppi pushed forward in the second period, leaving huge gaps in their backline, which was repeatedly exposed by Ismaili's counter attacks.

Iraqi striker Mostafa Karim rounded off a neat counter-attack in the 85th minute to wrap up the win.

In another match, Petrojet won Harras Al-Hedoud 1-0 to gain their first three points in the League marathon. The Ivorian striker Zeka Goori scored the winner with a precise header three minutes past the hour mark.

Newly-promoted side Petroleum Assiout got off their Egyptian League campaign to a winning start following a 1-0 victory over Tersana on Saturday. Veteran midfielder Ateya Saber scored the winner after converting a penalty in the 16th minute.

As for title holders Ahli, they didn't broadcast the match live on any TV channel. A statement on the club's official site published before the game stated that no first team games will be broadcast live unless Ahli TV is given exclusive rights of home games.

Ahli made an official request to the Egyptian FA to take exclusive rights of broadcasting League games, but the plea was rejected. However, the Reds still have the right not to broadcast League matches live on satellite or terrestrial channels.

Nevertheless, defending champions Ahli kicked-off their Egyptian League campaign with an easy 3-0 victory over newly-promoted Olympic at Cairo stadium. Angolan striker Flavio needed three minutes to put the hosts in front when he towered unmarked to head Ahmed Hassan's free-kick into the net.

Ahli were awarded a penalty just two minutes later after veteran midfielder Ahmed Hassan was brought down inside the area. Striker Osama Hosni, who was given a rare start, stepped up to convert the ball and double Ahli's lead.

Flavio notched his second of the night in the 71st minute to wrap up Ahli's victory. The former Petro Atletico man went clear on goal after a neat exchange with Hosni before rounding the keeper and slotting into an empty net.