Defending champions Ahly made up for a disappointing start to their Egyptian Premier League campaign when they strolled to a 3-0 win over Ittihad El-Shorta in a rescheduled match at Cairo Stadium on Saturday. Striker Amr Gamal, who has become Egypt's main frontman lately, and an own goal from El-Shorta's Ivorian midfielder Yaya Toure gave Ahly a first-half lead before a curling effort from Walid Soliman after the break ensured the Red Devils had bagged their first three points of the new campaign. Ahly's vivid performance against El-Shorta was in stark contrast to their timid display when they slumped to a 2-1 defeat by minnows Ragaa in their opening league match early this month. Egypt's most successful outfit Ahly, who are seeking to win a ninth successive league title, moved off the bottom of the table but they still have two matches in hand which will put them on top if they win them. El-Shorta are 14th with four points from as many games. Ahly opened the scoring after 14 minutes when goal-poacher Gamal side-footed home following a right-wing free kick from lively winger Soliman, who was unlucky not to double their lead on two occasions. He had a curling free-kick tipped over by keeper Essam Saad, who denied him again in a one-on-one situation eight minutes before the break. Ahly's second goal came from an unlikely source on 41 minutes when Toure found the bottom corner of his own net with a firm header while attempting to clear a cross from central midfielder Mahmoud Hassan, known as Trezeguet. The hosts kept slicing open El-Shorta's defence at will in the second half, with the in-form Gamal rattling the bar with a powerful shot from the edge of the area and his strike partner Ahmed Abdel-Zaher denied by Saad while attempting to fire home the rebound. Their pressure paid dividends in the 65th minute when Soliman cut inside his marker with a catchy feint on the edge of the area and sent a curling right-foot effort past the advancing Saad who was caught out of position as Ahly made the game safe. (For more sports news and updates, follow AhramOnline Sports on Twitter at@AO_Sportsand on Facebook atAhramOnlineSports.) http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/113404.aspx
