CAIRO: Abdul-Halim Ali scored twice as Zamalek eased to a 3-0 home victory over third division side Ismailia Electricity to progress to the Egyptian Cup round of 16 on Friday.
Mostafa Gaafar, who was the architect of Ali’s brace, was also on the scoresheet after notching his first goal of the season.
The Cairo giants will face either Maleyet Kafr Al-Zayat or Baladeya, who face each other on Saturday.
Zamalek manager Ruud Krol made several changes in his starting line-up due to the absence of several regulars due to international duty.
Midfielder Ahmed Magdi was switched to the left-flank, despite failing to impress in this position early in the season.
Magdi Attwa was given a rare start on the right while Karim Zekri, Amr Al-Safti and Beshir Al-Tabie formed Zamalek’s backline.
Ismailia’s resistance lasted for just three minutes as Ali opened the scoring with a simple tap-in.
A deft through pass released Gaafar clear on goal but his effort was parried by Ismailia keeper Ibrahim Kamal into the path of Ali, who notched home into an empty net.
Gaafar doubled the lead seven minutes later, thanks to an error by the shaky Kamal.
The former Baladeya striker latched on to a long ball inside the area before looping over Kamal, who needlessly rushed out in an attempt to gather the ball before Gaafar.
Zamalek should have been further ahead in the 32nd minute but two successive efforts from Ali and Gaafar were denied by the bar.
Ali wrapped up the victory 11 minutes after restart when he easily diverted Gaafar’s low cross into the back of the net.
Youngster Mohamed Ibrahim almost made it 4-0 shortly before the final whistle but his deflected shot struck the bar.
Ismailia finished with ten men after Tarek Abd-Rabou was sent-off for a second bookable offense in stoppage time
