Striker Kabongo Kasongo came off the bench to score a late goal and help Zamalek secure a third consecutive Egyptian Premier League win following a 1-0 victory at Assiouty Sport on Saturday. The Congolese, who came on in the 61st minute, netted the winner with 13 minutes remaining for his third goal of the season, ending the resistance of Assiouty. Zamalek kept alive their hopes of winning the league title with three straight wins which came following a three-match winless run. They are fourth in the table with 28 points, nine behind leaders Ismaily who played a match more. Assiouty are 10th on 19 points. Zamalek were unlucky not to score on a couple of occasions in the first half as they pushed forward from the early stages. Winger Youssef Ibrahim had a low shot from inside the area that was blocked by the keeper after a pull-back from Mohamed El-Shami, who scored the winning goal against Arab Contractors last week with a superb piledriver. Lone striker Frank Acheampong was guilty of spurning their best chance in the 43rd minute when a deft touch from Ibrahim sent him clean through on goal but his effort was thwarted by the keeper. Despite their dominance, Zamalek could have fallen behind on the stroke of halftime when a long ball eluded defender Mahmoud Hamdi and found Omar Bassam, who swiveled to evade a tame challenge from keeper Ahmed El-Shennawi, only for Hamdi to redeem himself with a superb goal-line clearance. Zamalek found it more difficult to penetrate the defence after the break but they came close with a long-range shot from Tarek Hamed which went just over the bar. Kasongo came to their rescue in the 77th minute, tapping in into an empty net after El-Shami's low cross struck the keeper and fell into his path. Zamalek breathed a sigh of relief after a powerful shot from Sherif Dabo rattled the woodwork in the dying stages as they held on for a precious win. (For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.)
