Ahly closed to within one point of Egyptian Premier League leaders Ismaily after crushing third-bottom Nasr 4-0 at Cairo Stadium on Tuesday. A comical error by Nasr keeper Mohamed Mostafa allowed Ahly's central defender Ayman Ashraf to head home early on before winger Walid Soliman converted from the spot to make it 2-0 on the stroke of halftime. Moroccan striker Walid Azaro took his tally to eight league goals after scoring from another penalty with three minutes remaining before substitute Islam Mohareb completed the rout in stoppage time. Ahly, whose two consecutive victories followed a disappointing run of only one win in four matches, are second in the table with 36 points, just one short of leaders Ismaily who played a match more. They next face arch-rivals Zamalek, who are fourth in the table, in the first Cairo derby of the season on Monday. Azaro had a deflected shot cleared off the line by Nasr defender Islam Mostafa before Ashraf put Ahly ahead after 12 minutes following a dreadful blunder from keeper Mostafa. Instead of clearing an innocuous cross, Mostafa punched the ball towards his own net, leaving Ashraf with the simple task of heading into an empty net. Ahly wasted several clear-cut chances to double their lead while Nasr's only first-half chance fell to diminutive playmaker Isslam Eissa, whose feint took him past central defender Rami Rabia in the area but his angled effort was blocked by advancing keeper Mohamed El-Shennawi. Midfielder Hesham Mohamed came close to extending Ahly's advantage in the 31st minute with a powerful shot that went just over following a flick from Azaro but the team still went to the locker room 2-0 up, with Soliman sending the keeper the wrong way from the spot after youngster Ahmed Hamdi was tripped. Ahly eased off after the break and gave Nasr too much space at times, with the hosts threatening to narrow the gap twice through their lively playmaker Eissa. He had an effort cleared off the line by Rabia before flashing an angled shot just wide after holding off Tunisian left-back Ali Maaloul in the area with 14 minutes remaining. But Ahly killed off any hopes Nasr had with two quick-fire goals in the dying minutes, with Azaro winning a penalty after being felled by the keeper before converting it himself and Mohareb putting the icing on the cake with a neat finish following a through pass from fellow substitute Moemen Zakareya. (For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.)
