Summer cold
Despite the heat, domestic football league title holders Ahli are not hot. Ahmed Morsy reports
The third week of the Egyptian league ended with seven wins but defending champions Ahli were not among the victors, being held to a goalless draw against the Arab Contractors. Ahli were looking to shrug off their 2-0 defeat against Misri in the second week of the league when they visited the Contractors on Saturday. However, Ahli failed to take advantage of the expulsion of two Contractor players, and are now in seventh place in the league table with four points, while the Arab Contractors lie eighth on goal difference with Ahli.
Despite playing with nine men for 27 minutes, the Contractors successfully held the former African champions. Eighteen minutes after the break, Contractors had just nine players on the pitch after Osama El-Sayed and Mohamed Gamal were sent off on either side of the interval.
In spite of their numerical advantage, Ahli, who have won the league four successive times, failed in their attempts to score a valuable winner. They themselves finished with 10 men after Mohamed Samir received his marching orders one minute from time.
Ahli assistant coach Hossam El-Badri admitted that losing points in the early stages of the season could make his side's task of winning the league more difficult.
"Losing points gives hope to our competitors that they can mount a serious title challenge," El-Badri told a post-match press conference.
"It is not good to stutter in the early stages of the season, but I'm sure the players can bounce back quickly. It's strange that we completely dominated the game but failed to score against nine men.
"The players hastily pushed forward to score the winner; they did not concentrate on how to finish off their attacks," he added.
Arab Contractors coach Mohamed Radwan believed his side could have defeated Ahli despite playing with nine men for the better part of the second half.
"We were the better side in the first half," Radwan said. "We also wasted several clear- cut chances that could have put us in the driving seat against Ahli. It was difficult for us in the second period, but my tactics paid off and we managed to maintain the goalless score."
On the same day, Petrojet continued their winning quest after thrashing Olympic 3-1 in Suez. Goals from Zeka Goori, Mahmoud Abdel-Hakim and Mohamed Samara helped Petrojet secure their third successive win in Egypt's premier competition. Karim Adel scored the consolation for newcomers Olympic, who failed to build on their 2-0 win over the Arab Contractors earlier this month in the second week of the league.
After the win, Petrojet occupy the league's summit with a perfect nine points while Alexandria-based club Olympic lie 12th on three points. Petrojet will take on Ahli in their next encounter in the domestic league.
On Saturday, Ahmed Zaghloul scored late in the second period to give Ittihad a precious 2-1 victory over Egypt Telecom. Ittihad are in 10th place with four points while Egypt Telecom have six points and lie on the sixth spot.
Spinning Mehalla stormed back from a one- goal deficit to crush Tersana 4-1 in Mehalla. Mehalla now have three points and are in 11th place. Tersana are in 13th position.
Junior Agogo scored in his Egyptian League debut as Zamalek edged 2-1 past Misri on Sunday in Cairo. Ghanaian international Agogo missed the first two games because of knee problems but looked sharp against the energetic Misri side and scored the winner in the second half.
Tunisian defender Wissam Al-Abdi scored the opener in the first minute when he beat his marker to touch a Mohamed Ibrahim free-kick into the far angle. However, eight minutes later, Misri equalised through Ashour El-Adham, whose powerful low drive brushed past the hand of Zamalek keeper Mohamed Abdel-Monsef before flying into the net.
In the 26th minute, Misri had three scoring opportunities in one play, when Ahmed Osman failed to score in a one-on-one with Abdel-Monsef, who parried it before attempts from Ahmed Galal and Wagih Abdel-Azim went wide.
Shortly after, Galal rounded Al-Abdi but his shot went over the bar.
Zamalek looked better after the restart and Agogo put his side in front after just seven minutes when he scuffed a loose ball into the Misri box and dinked past the advancing keeper.
Zamalek now are third with seven points from three matches, level with Ismaili who are second with a superior goal difference and two points behind leaders Petrojet.
Zamalek coach Reiner Hollman thought his team's victory over Misri came as a result of their superior physical fitness.
Abdullah El-Said scored twice to give Ismaili a 3-1 home victory over Al-Gaish. Talented midfielder El-Said fired a short-range shot home after Omar Gamal's deft through pass in the 14th minute as the home side went ahead. Al-Gaish levelled through Ahmed Abdullah's powerful shot, which settled into the net despite an attempt to save from keeper Mohamed Sobhi.
Iraqi striker Mustafa Karim restored the lead in the 70th minute with a smart lofted ball that floated past advancing keeper Wa'el Khalifa. El-Said killed the game off three minutes from time when he dinked a long shot home. Ismaili now have seven points from three games while Al-Gaish are yet to open their account this season.
Haras Al-Hedoud had a 1-0 away win over Petroleum Assiout to settle into ninth place with four points while Assiout are 14th with three points. Elsewhere, Enppi defeated newly- promoted Police Union to prevent them from having their first three points. Enppi now lie fifth on six points.
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