CAIRO: Mahmoud Abdul-Razeq Shikabala notched twice to lead Zamalek to a crushing 3-0 away victory over Harras Al-Hodoud in an ill-tempered Egyptian League clash on Saturday.
The former PAOK Saloniki playmaker opened the scoring after a breakdown in communications in Al-Hodoud s backline early in the first-half before Abdul-Halim Ali added the second six minutes after re-start.
Shikabala was on target again two minutes past the hour mark through a powerful drive as Zamalek continued their push for a CAF Champions League spot next season.
Al-Hodoud finished the match with nine men on the field after Abdul-Salam Nagah and Ahmed Eid were sent-off while Zamalek had to play most of the game with ten men following Ahmed Ghanem s dismissal.
Zamalek are third in the league table with 59 points and one game in hand, two short of second-placed Ismaili who played one match more.
Despite the defeat, Al-Hodoud are still fourth on 28 points but Ghazl Mahalla could leapfrog them if they beat Enppi later on Sunday.
Shikabala did make Al-Hodoud pay for a terrible defensive mistake after just five minutes as every defender but Eid pushed out from his free-kick, leaving Zamalek defender Wissem El-Abdi alone in the area.
After their attempt to make the offside trap failed, Shikabala s free-kick went straight into the back of the net as El-Abdi couldn t touch the ball to put his name on the score sheet.
Six minutes later, Al-Hodoud keeper Ali Farag couldn t handle Shikabala s cross from the right-flank but the whites striker Ali didn t capitalize.Zamalek s defensive midfielder Alaa Abdul-Ghani had to be replaced in the 14th minute after sustaining an injury, making way for Ahmed Abdul-Raaouf.
The home side had their first chance one minute later when Eid s pass released Amr Allam, whose shot from inside the area went poorly wide.
Zamalek right-back Ghanem received his marching orders in the 34th minute after an off-ball punch to Eid.
The remaining minutes of the first-half didn t witness any real opportunities from both sides as the players were busy making arguments in every single free-kick amid heavy boos from the crowd.
Al-Hodoud boss introduced attacking duo Ahmed Abdul-Ghani and Abdul-Hamid Bassiouni in a bid to capitalize on Zamalek s numerical disadvantage.
However, the substitutes didn t have much time to make an impact as Ali doubled the lead in the 51st minute.
After the helpless Farag poorly parried a cross into the path of Shikabala, the 21-year-old sent a cross at the far post to Gamal Hamza, who headed the ball to Ali for a simple nod-in from close range.
Nagah received a straight red card the 58th minute for elbowing Zamalek midfielder Tamer Abdul-Hamid.
Shikabala completed the rout in the 62nd minute when his left-footed unstoppable bullet found its way into the back of the net.
Eid followed in the footsteps of Nagah one minute from time following a second booking for diving inside the area.
