VIDEO: Ahly too strong for Ittihad

Defending champions Ahly return to winning ways with an easy 2-0 victory over Ittihad of Alexandria in Friday's league game

Ahly claimed their second Egyptian Premier League win in four matches after strolling to a 2-0 victory over Ittihad of Alexandria at the Egyptian Army Stadium in Borg El Arab on Friday.
New signing Abdallah El-Saied, who joined from Ismaily in the close season, scored his maiden Ahly goal in the first half to put his side in front before striker Emad Meteb wrapped up the win eight minutes past the hour mark.
The only blot on Ahly's copybook was the excessive use of fireworks from their hardcore fans, which could land the club in further troubles with the Egyptian Football Association (EFA).
The EFA, which vowed to clamp down on disorder in the new season, had already ordered Ahly to play their next home league game behind closed doors for a similar reason.
The 86,000-seat Egyptian Army Stadium, the second biggest in Africa, has hosted its second game since it was officially opened in 2007. The first match to be held at the stadium was the 2009 U-20 World Cup opener between Egypt and Trinidad and Tobago.
The win moved Ahly, who were held to two successive draws by Gouna and Petrojet, to the league's summit with eight points. Ittihad, who survived relegation last season following a controversial EFA decision,are ninth on five points.
Traditional formation
Ahly coach Manuel Jose reverted to a traditional 3-5-2 formation after the expensively-assembled side failed to blossom while adopting a 4-4-2 strategy.
The visitors appeared lively in the first half, thanks to the tireless work of El-Saied who operated freely behind attacking duo Emad Meteb and El-Sayed Hamdi.
Meteb wasted an early effort to put Ahly in front when he sent a low shot just wide of the post from a tight angle but he made amends on 10 minutes after setting up El-Saied for the opener.
With his back to goal, Meteb pulled the ball back for El-Saied on the edge of the area to fire a low shot into the bottom corner of the net.
Ahly's defensive midfielder Mohamed Shawky was substituted few minutes later after picking up an injury, making way for attacking midfielder Walid Soliman, who had just recovered from a groin injury.
The substitution, which left central midfielder Hossam Ghaly with heavy defensive burdens, allowed Ittihad to briefly threaten Ahly.
A powerful volley by Ittihad's Rami Rabie, an ex-Ahly striker, was superbly blocked by keeper Sherif Ekramy eight minutes before the break.
Ahly regained their dominance in the second half amid little resistance from a helpless Ittihad side, who looked a shadow of the team which held Ismaily to a 1-1 draw in their previous game.
The Red Devils killed off the hopes of Ittihad on 68 minutes when Soliman capitalized on a defensive blunder to feed the unmarked Meteb, who notched home with aplomb.
Ahly could have added a third on several occasions but were unlucky when substitute Mohamed Nagy “Gedo” hit the side netting following a counter attack and El-Saied saw a brilliant curling free kick strike the bar seven minutes from time.