Zamalek kept alive their faint hopes of defending their Egyptian Premier League title after claiming an easy 2-0 win over winless Ghazl El-Mahalla on Saturday, with striker Emmanuel Mayuka continuing his recent fine form. The Zambian took his tally to five league goals in 10 appearances when he gave Zamalek an early lead before on-loan winger Hamoudi, who is set to return to Swiss side Basel in the summer, wrapped up the win six minutes past the hour mark. Zamalek narrowed the gap with leaders and favourites Ahly to eight points with eight matches remaining but the latter will restore their 11-point advantage at the top if they beat Wadi Degla later in the day. The defending champions bagged maximum points from two matches under caretaker coach Mohamed Helmi, who took over following the dismissal of Scottish Alex McLeish to become the team's sixth boss of a bizarre season. Mayuka opened the scoring after nine minutes when he swiveled and fired a powerful shot from the edge of the area that nestled into the near post following a through pass from playmaker Mohamed Ibrahim. Mahalla were toothless and could not cause any troubles for a comfortable Zamalek backline in the first half, with the White Knights going close to doubling their advantage on a couple of occasions. Winger Mahmoud Kahraba had a curling shot that went just over the crossbar on 27 minutes and a first-timer that narrowly missed the target following a cross from left-back Adel Gomaa nine minutes later. Mahalla briefly threatened early in the second half when a close-range header forced a brilliant one-handed save from keeper Mahmoud Gennesh before striker Mohamed Khalifa missed a sitter when he failed to connect with the ball with the goal at his mercy following a defensive blunder. That was a rare glimpse of goal for Mahalla as Zamalek quickly regained control, with Hamoudi putting the result beyond doubt with a simple finish into an empty net on 66 minutes after the keeper failed to deal with an innocuous corner. (For more sportsnews andupdates, followAhramOnlineSportson Twitter at@AO_Sportsand onFacebookatAhramOnlineSports.) http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/208291.aspx
