CAIRO: Ahly beat Harras Hodoud 1-0 in the Egyptian Premier League game played in Cairo on Monday.
Angolan Flavio Amado scored the only goal of the game courtesy of a 36th minute header.
The Red Devils started the game without Mohamed Abou-Trika, who s in Germany for a medical check-up. Injured Hossam Ashour also didn’t take part.
In their absence, Mohamed Barakat played behind the strike duo of Flavio Amado and Ahmed Belal. Moetaz Eno was given the nod in midfield for the second successive game.
Ahly s Belal got the first chance, as he was found clear by Flavio s cross before placing a weak header in Mathurin Kameni s hands.
Minutes later, Abdel-Hamid Bassiouni volleyed just wide after he was nearly through on goal thanks to Ahmed Abdel-Ghani s flick.
The visitors could have scored in the 24th minute when Ahmed Abdel-Ghani rounded goalkeeper Amir Abdel-Hamid, but Ahmed Al Sayed saved Ahly from conceding.
Ahmed Eid had his calls for a penalty waved away by the referee after a tackle from Abdel-Hamid. Replays showed that the former had good ground for his protests.
On 26 minutes, Belal had a goal ruled out for offside. The striker chipped an effort past Kameni from Flavio s pass. Replays also showed he wasn’t offside.
Ahly finally broke the deadlock when Eno s nice cross was met by a typical Flavio header at the far post.
In the second half, Hodoud looked keen on scoring an equalizer. Tarek Al-Ashri s men were in possession of the ball most of the second half but couldn’t pose much threat to Ahly s defense.
Half an hour on, Ahly looked nearer to adding a second as the entrance of Gilberto and Ahmed Hassan reactivated the Red Devils attack.
The Angolan connection of Gilberto-Flavio produced Ahly s best chance of the half. The former s cross was met by the latter s flying header but the ball was saved by Kameni.
The win lifts Ahly to first in the table with 32, while Hodoud remain fifth with 23.
