Ahly claimed their seventh successive win in the Egyptian League on Thursday when they defeated Ismaily 1-0 at Mexx stadium in Alexandria. Substitute winger Walid Soliman came off the bench to score the winner, ten minutes after replacing striker Marwan Mohsen in the 68 th minute. Thursday's win helped Ahly cement their place at the top of the league table with 21 points, five points ahead of second-placed Ittihad of Alexandria who played one match more. Ahly were forced to make several modifications in their squad as team's star Ramadan Sobhi, veteran fullback Ahmed Fathi, midfielder Amr El-Soulaya missed all the game due to different injuries. Malian midfielder Aliou Dieng, striker Marwan Mohsen and winger Ahmed El-Sheikh enjoyed their first starting role this season to fill the void of the absent trio. The first half was boring…The only chance came in the 18 th minute when Ayman Ashraf powerful shot from 30 meters hit the cross bar. Both sides were cautious, opting for controlling the midfield without making any threat in the rest of the first half. The second half was different as Ahly intensified their attacks in order to open the scoring. Striker Marwan Mohsen received a nice pass from winger Ahmed El-Sheikh that made him clear but his effort was denied by Ismaily keeper Mohamed Magdi in the 56 th minute. Three minutes later Ahly's keeper Mohamed El-Shennawi blocked a nice header from Piqueti Silva with a heroic save. Winger Walid Soliman replaced toothless striker Marwan Mohsen in the 68 th minute and the veteran winger rewarded his coach, scoring the winner with a well placed header after meeting a nice cross from Mohamed Hani in the 78 th minute. After the goal Ismaily coach introduced striker Benson Shilongo but the Namibian striker fails to make his presence felt. Ahly's winger Ahmed El-Sheikh had the chance to double the lead in injury time but his close-range effort went wide. Ahly will host Ittihad of Alexandria on Monday. (For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.)
