CAIRO: Zamalek have been ousted from the Egyptian Cup after being condemned to an embarrassing 1-0 loss by third-division side Bani Obeid in the round of 32 on Friday.
Al-Sayed Al-Mandouh scored the sole goal after 80 minutes to send Bani Obeid to the next round.
Cup holders Zamalek were slightly revitalized last week after ending a long winless run by registering a 3-1 win over Police Union in the Egyptian league, but it seems that their misery is far from over.
Unexpected Result
The first five minutes of the first half witnessed a cagey start from both sides, who were trying to take over the midfield.
Zamalek initiated the attacks from the right flank, but Bani Obeid s backline prevented the visitors from hitting an early opener.
Abdel-Halim Ali could have fired the White Knights ahead on four minutes, but his close-range shot drifted well wide of the mark.
The hosts, who were clearly aiming to clinch a victory over the Cairo giants, responded in the next minute with an unorganized counter attack.
Mahmoud “Shikabala Abdel-Razek, who posed a threat to the third tier side, tried his luck on eight minutes, but his free-kick went over the crossbar.
After the first 10 minutes, the match turned into an uneventful affair for quite a while, as both teams mis-passes kept the action to minimum.
Sherif Ashraf was close to breaking the deadlock in the first minute of the injury time when he connected with Hani Saeid s pinpoint cross, but his header missed the target by inches.
After the interval, Gamal Hamza came on as a substitute instead of former Ahly youth team striker Ashraf.
The away side altered their strategy and tried to take a stranglehold on the game by maintaining ball possession superiority.
Veteran Ali tried to make his way into the box on 48 minutes, but Abdel Megid s challenge blocked his efforts.
While Zamalek were keeping the upper hand, Bani Obeid depended on counter attacks, which paid off later on.
Hamza, who was sent into battle in the second-half, formed an effective partnership with Shikabala, but they couldn t translate this into goals.
At 75 minutes, the match was stopped for a short while when Zamalek assistant coach Momen Soliman was trying to step onto the pitch in protest against a refereeing decision.
Five minutes later, Bani Obeid hit their visitors on the counter, after Hamza was dispossessed in midfield.
Al-Mandouh, who was introduced as a second-half substitute, scored a surprising goal 10 minutes from time when he took advantage of the airy space and outran his opponents defenders before scoring from a difficult angle past Abdel-Wahed Al-Sayed.
Zamalek tried in vain to redeem themselves and intensified pressure upfront, but Bani Obeid managed to keep their slender lead till the final whistle.
