Zamalek wallop Minya to move into second in Egyptian Premier League

Zamalek secure third consecutive league win to move within five points of Group B leaders Petrojet

Zamalek climbed to Group B's second spot following a comprehensive 4-0 Egyptian Premier League home victory over rock bottom Minya, thanks in part to a brace from striker Ahmed Ali.
Egypt international Ali, who also hit the sole goal in the reverse fixture, scored on both sides of the interval before midfielder Moemen Zakareya added the third two minutes from the end.
Left-back Mohamed Abdel-Shafy completed the rout deep into stoppage time to help his side claim their third league win in a row.
Manager Ahmed Hossam 'Mido' included two youngsters – right-back Abdel-Rahman Salah and forward Youssef Ibrahim 'Obama' – for the first time in the Whites' starting XI.
Zamalek now have 25 points, five adrift of leaders Petrojet, who have played two games more.
Minya waste, Zamalek score
Despite being in control for most of the half, Minya were the side who posed a real threat on goal, mainly capitalising on the gaps exposed by Egypt left-back Abdel-Shafy.
Minya's in-form forward Mahmoud Kaoud, who caused the Zamalek defence all sorts of trouble throughout the half, wasted a sitter after 22 minutes when he charged down the right before seeing his one-on-one effort go agonisingly wide of the post.
With Zamalek unable to threaten the minnows' goal despite Hazem Emam and Abdel-Shafy's forays down the flanks, it was Minya again who staggeringly wasted another certain chance through Kaoud just six minutes from half-time.
Kaoud received a pass inside the six-yard box and instead of easily slotting past keeper Abdel-Wahed El-Sayed, the forward shockingly hit his low effort wide in what could have been the opener of the match.
Ironically, it was Zamalek who took the lead against the run of play – with Minya paying for their wasted chances just a minute later.
Striker Ali was once again on target against the debutants when he headed Abdel-Shafy's free kick from the left past the keeper to put his side in front three minutes from the break.
Minya to further lament wasted chances
The second half wasn't a much different affair, with the visitors wasting early on before being punished a few minutes later.
Seven minutes into the second half, Kaoud was again guilty of another glaring miss when his header went narrowly wide from close range to squander a certain equaliser.
Zamalek's leveler then came eight minutes later, with substitute Mostafa Fathy – who scored the all-important winner against Wadi Degla a couple of weeks ago – replacing the ineffectual youngster Salah before being strongly involved in his side's second.
Latching onto a long through ball, Fathy charged down the left before sending a low cross to Ali, who was waiting inside the box to drill into an empty net.
Zakareya then saw a superb curling strike from the edge of the area miss the target by inches as keeper Abdel-Wahed was called into action two minutes later to deny a powerful shot from the opponents.
But Kaoud seemed adamant to waste more clear-cut chances when he spurned a close-range effort six minutes from time.
And so the newcomers were punished once again, this time with a brilliant piece of skill from Zakareya, who superbly skipped past two defenders inside the box before delightfully dinking past the hapless keeper the third of the night.
Abdel-Shafy put the icing on the cake seconds before the referee blew the final whistle, smashing home defender Mahmoud Fathallah's long-range free kick on the rebound.
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