Zamalek, crowned Egyptian champions on Tuesday without kicking a ball, celebrated the long-awaited title with a 3-2 victory over Talae El-Geish on Wednesday before chairman Mortada Mansour made a shocking announcement that he would step down. An own goal by Mohamed Hashem gave Zamalek a 12th-minute lead before veteran winger Ahmed Eid doubled their advantage two minutes later with a fine volley following a neat cross from left-winger Ahmed Samir. Hashem made up for his early blunder when he reduced the arrears with a well-taken header on 49 minutes but Zamalek's top scorer Bassem Morsi restored a two-goal cushion with an easy tap-in the 74th minute. Morsi, who took his tally to 18 goals, is seeking to become the league's top scorer but he now needs to grab at least a hat-trick in the final game of the season against Wadi Degla to overtake Dakhleya's Hossam Paolo at the top. Geish's Islam Kamal narrowed the gap again in stoppage time but Zamalek held on for a narrow win, having wrapped up their 12th league title and their first since 2004 after nearest challengers and arch rivals Ahly were held to a 1-1 draw by Smouha on Tuesday. Outspoken chairman Mansour, who spent big last summer to bolster an underachieving squad, said the club's board of directors will convene an emergency meeting on Thursday to officially hand in his resignation. "The procedures of electing a new chairman will begin tomorrow. I wanted to prove all doubters wrong when I was elected in 2013, and I managed to draw a smile on the face of Zamalek's supporters." It remains to be seen whether the firebrand Mansour, who is hated by Zamalek's hardcore fan group (Ultras Zamalkawy), will stick to his surprise announcement. He did not specify why he had decided to leave. (For more sports news andupdates, followAhramOnlineSportson Twitter at@AO_Sportsand onFacebookatAhramOnlineSports.) http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/136532.aspx
