After 143 days of suspension, the Egyptian Premier League returned to life on Thursday when Zamalek defeated Masry 1-0 in a rescheduled game at Alexandria's Borg El-Arab stadium. International defender Mahmoud Alaa scored the winner, five minutes before the hour-mark, to send the White Knights to the second place in the table. It was a below par game, chances were few in a boring first half which was completely dominated by the White Knights in terms of possession. The first threat came in the 14th minute when striker Mostafa Mohamed met a pinpoint cross from Mohamed Abdel-Shafi from the left flank with a nice header but his effort was denied by Masry's keeper Ahmed Massoud. Massoud came on the rescue for his side one minute later after denying a nice volley from defender Mahmoud Hamdi and Mostafa Mohamed was on the rebound but his close range shot went wide. In the 35th minute debutant striker Hossam Ashraf missed his dream debut as he failed to connect with Ahmed El-Sayed's cross. Both teams failed to up their game but Zamalek finally got what they deserved. In the 55th minute Masry defenders struggled to clear a corner only to fall in the path of centre back Mahmoud Alaa who scored from close range. Masry pressed forward to grab the equalizer leaving lots of spaces at the back. Mohamed, who has yet to rediscover his scoring form, squandered two goal-scoring opportunities in the 65 and 69 minutes respectively. Veteran fullback Mohamed Abdel-Shafi could have secured the victory but his curling shot from a tight angle went inches off the post. Masry came close from punishing the hosts for their poor finishing when striker Mahmoud Wadi eased-past his challenger before sending a powerful shot from inside the area but his effort was blocked and Abdel Shafi cleared the rebound before Eslam Atteya could have scored in an empty net. Thursday's win helped Zamalek climb to the second place in the league table with 34 points, 15 points behind leaders Ahly. (For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.)
