CAIRO: Ahly beat Zamalek 1-0 to win the 102nd Cairo derby, which was played at the Cairo International Stadium on Sunday.
Amado Flavio scored the only goal of the game, courtesy of an 81st minute header.
Defender Mohamed Samir was given his derby debut and Ahmed Fathi started in defence for Ahly due to Wael Gomaa’s suspension and the sudden injury of Shadi Mohamed during the warm up.
Ahmed Al-Merghani also started his first game against Ahly at the heart of the Zamalek midfield, with Brazilian Ricardo making a comeback on the left side.
The first half witnessed a number of attempts from both sides, as the two teams were keen to avoid conceding an early goal.
In the 4th minute Ahmed Ghanem lead Zamalek’s first attack by storming past Gilberto before crossing to Junior Agogo, but the Ghanaian couldn’t head properly.
Hamza failed to cap on a golden opportunity for Zamalek in the 25th minute, after he failed to connect with Mahmoud “Shikabala Abdel-Razek’s pinpoint through pass.
Minutes later, Ahmed Hassan ended a darting run from midfield by passing towards Mohamed Barakat. However, the latter couldn’t get a shot after Abdel-Wahed Al-Sayed came out of his goal to block his path.
Moments later, Gilberto had his claims for a penalty kick waved away by the referee, after the Angolan lost control and fell in the Zamalek box.
In injury time, Zamalek had their best chance of the half when Shikabala crossed from the right, as Fathi cleared before the ball reached the unguarded Agogo.
After the interval, Ahly seemed intent on scoring and seven minutes on, Ahmed Belal should have opened the score line.
A lovely exchange of passes between Hassan and Ahmed Sedik released the latter on the right. Sedik’s cross found the unmarked Belal, whose header was saved by Al-Sayed.
It seemed that Zamalek were content with the draw, as the technical staff replaced striker Hamza by midfielder Ayman Abdel-Aziz midway through the second half.
Ahly coach Manuel Jose had other ideas, as he brought on Mohamed Abou-Treika and Anis Boujelbene to replace Hassan and Belal to enhance his team’s attacking options.
As the game was heading towards a stalemate, Flavio came out of the blue to brilliantly head Gilberto’s cross past Al-Sayed and give Ahly the lead nine minutes from time.
The Red Devils could easily hang on to their lead, as they successfully kept possession for the rest of the game.
