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On-fire El-Saied inspires Ahly to 3-0 Confed Cup win over Esperance A stunning display from Abdallah El-Saied gives Ahly an impressive 3-0 home win over Esperance in the Confederation Cup Group A opener
A virtuoso performance from Abdallah El-Saied saw him score twice and help set up the third as Ahly opened the defence of their Confederation Cup crown with a convincing 3-0 home victory over Tunisia's Esperance in Group A on Sunday. The red-hot attacking midfielder opened the scoring in the 20th-minute before completing his brace 12 minutes after the interval. Substitute Moemen Zakareya put the icing on the cake in the dying minutes. Holding midfielder Hossam Ashour received his marching orders midway through the second half following an off-the-ball challenge but Ahly were hardly affected by his absence as they maintained a firm grip on the game, which was played in the northern city of Suez behind closed doors. Ahly now top a crunch Group A, with Tunisia's Etoile du Sahel lying second following a narrow 1-0 victory over Mali's Stade Malien earlier in the day. Slow start, El-Saied dazzles The final scoreline might seem flattering given that Ahly struggled in the opening stages to take the ball into Esperance's final third, with the Tunisians looking better during the first quarter of an hour. The visitors' main source of danger came through Nigerian striker Emem Eduok, who caused his marker Saad Samir problems early on with his movements while coming deep towards play. But the hosts managed to get into the game after 18 minutes, and a diagonal cross from Mahmoud Hassan ‘Trezeguet' for fit-again Amr Gamal saw keeper Moez Ben Cherifia thwart the striker's header. And it was just two minutes later when Ahly were in front, with El-Saied capitalizing on a defensive blunder from center-back Arbi Jabeur, to go through on goal and strike past the keeper. El-Saied, who alongside Trezeguet proved Ahly's dangerous forwards with their movements between the lines, then provided a glimpse of his skills when he delightfully juggled the ball over a defender inside the box before shooting narrowly wide. But Eduok refused to see his side being threatened without posing danger himself, and a couple of minutes later he managed to beat central defender Mohamed Naguib before seeing his shot from inside the area miss the target by inches. Defensive midfielder Hocine Ragued then arrowed a free kick that also went wide on the half-hour mark, but it was winger Walid Soliman who could have made it two with just two minutes from the break. Capitalizing on the huge amount of space behind Esperance's midfield, Soliman had all the time to strike from outside the box, only for his shot to miss the target. El-Saied continues heroics Just two minutes after the break, El-Saied continued his heroics by brilliantly laying the ball off for striker Gamal who struck wide from inside the area. But it was another combination between Ahly's arguably best two performers that resulted in their second of the night, with Ghaly creating El-Saied's second goal three minutes from the hour-mark. Despite having the chance to shoot goalwards upon receiving the ball inside the area, Ghaly eventually opted to lay the ball off for the onrushing El-Saied who dispatched an unstoppable shot home to cap a stunning display with his personal brace. Having failed to find the right formula to face Ahly away from home after affording their dangerous men all the space they need, Esperance did not look entirely the side capable of staging a fightback despite attempting to go forward for some time. Esperance's dispirited display even continued after the dismissal of Ahly's defensive midfielder Ashour, with the once-fierce North African rivals looking to have thrown in the towel. Curiously, it was Ahly who found acres of spaces especially on the counter, but the sluggishness of substitute Zakareya and Soliman meant that a third goal had to wait for some time. Ironically, Ahly's third of the night came just after a header from energetic forward Eduok was denied by the post, with El-Saied still putting his touch in the following goal. With El-Saied starting the attack, substitute forward Ahmed Abdel-Zaher was released down the right before squaring the ball for Zakareya who made no mistake just few seconds before the referee blew the final whistle. (For more sports news andupdates, followAhramOnlineSportson Twitter at@AO_Sportsand onFacebookatAhramOnlineSports.) http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/134003.aspx
