CAIRO: Harras Hodoud produced an Egyptian Cup surprise by beating Ahly 1-0 and eliminating the Red Devils from the competition’s last 16 round.
At the Max stadium in Alexandria, Ahmed Abdel-Ghani’s 72nd minute strike was enough to send Tarek Al-Ashri’s men through to the quarter finals.
Mohamed Fawzo could have put the hosts ahead early on, when Ahly’s defence failed to clear Islam Al-Shater’s free kick but the forward blazed high.
Moments later, Ahly’s substitute keeper Ramzi Saleh was tested by Abdel-Ghani’s shot from outside the box; the Palestinian did well to punch the ball over and end the first half in a stalemate.
Ahly started brightly after the interval, and Mathurin Kameni did well to keep Mohamed Abou-Trika’s header out after Sayed Moawad’s cross.
Another chance went begging for the Red Devils when Moawad found Flavio unmarked in the box. However the Angolan striker bizarrely shot wide.
On 63 minutes, Ahly coach Manuel Jose brought on Ahmed Hassan Farag for full-back Ahmed Sedik and the substitution seems to have destabilized the African champion’s setup.
Hodoud took full advantage ten minutes later, when Abdul-Ghani beat Wael Gomaa to latch onto Ahmed Eid’s low cross after the latter’s brilliant run on the right wing.
After the goal, Ahly went gung ho by bringing on Gilberto for Moawad and Ahmed Belal in place of the out of form Mohamed Abou-Treika.
However, it got worse for Ahly when Gomaa was sent off on 78 minutes after a second bookable offence on Ahmed Eid.
