Ahly lost ground on leaders and arch-rivals Zamalek ahead of the Cairo derby later this month after surrendering their lead to draw 1-1 at home to Petrojet in the Egyptian Premier League on Tuesday. Defender Saad Samir netted a superb opener just before the half-time whistle but Ethiopian midfielder Shimelis Bekele secured a share of spoils nine minutes after the restart, firing home on the second attempt after his penalty was saved. Ahly's second successive draw leaves them fourth with 29 points, 11 behind Cairo foes Zamalek who are seeking to win the league title for the first time since 2004. The Red Devils, who still have two games in hand, can hardly afford to lose further points when they meet El-Geish in their next league game on Saturday, five days before their anticipated derby against Zamalek. Vulnerable Ahly, who made two unscripted substitutions either side of the interval after right-back Mohamed Hani and veteran midfielder Hossam Ghaly picked up injuries, appeared vulnerable at the back despite dominating possession. Petrojet defended doggedly in the first half but their approach allowed Ahly to lay siege to their area from the very beginning, squandering several goal-scoring chances. A curling shot from playmaker Abdallah El-Said went over the crossbar, Ethiopian striker Saladin Said headed just wide following a right-wing cross and El-Said squandered another golden chance when he gathered a loose ball but his attempted dink over the advancing keeper missed the target. Ahly mainly relied on the pace of promising full-back Hussein El-Sayed, whose darting runs down the left caused constant menace to Petrojet's backline. However, for all their dominance, Ahly were once again sluggish at the back, with Petrojet's few breakaways unsettling the out-of-form Mohamed Naguib and his partner Samir. One of the counter attacks released Bekele on the stroke of halftime but Ahly's experienced goalkeeper Sherif Ekramy rushed out in a timely manner to thwart him in a one-on-one situation. Petrojet were punished when Samir, with his back to goal, wrong-footed his marker with a superb turn to beat keeper Mohamed El-Shennawi at the near post with a crisp shot. Bekele made amends for his first-half miss when Petrojet were awarded a penalty on 54 minutes after Naguib caught out an opponent with a mis-timed tackle. The 25-year-old's spot-kick was blocked by Ekramy but he made no mistake on the rebound to level the score. Ahly poured forward en masse in the latter stages and were unlucky not to restore their advantage on two occasions in the last 15 minutes, with El-Shennawi palming away two close-range shots from Mahmoud Trezeguet and Walid Soliman. (For more sports news andupdates, followAhramOnlineSports on Twitter at@AO_Sportsand onFacebookatAhramOnlineSports.) http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/120837.aspx
