In the absence of Zamalek -- which has been preparing for its meet with Rajaa of Casablanca in the final of the African League Champions Cup -- all national league matches this week ended in a victory. Inas Mazhar reports It was a week slightly unlike all others for the national football league; Zamalek was absent, making predicted wins one less. Six matches took place in the 10th week of the national league competition, with Zamalek's game against the Arab Contractors being postponed because of Zamalek's other engagement -- in the African Champions Cup. Zamalek is scheduled to meet Rajaa of Casablanca tomorrow in the final that will take place at the Cairo Stadium. While the usual heated rivalry between Zamalek and Ahli may have been absent, other heated action was certainly taking place. Ahli maintained its winning streak, knocking down Tersana 4-0. Inpi accomplished a 2-0 victory over Ittihad of Alexandria. The other four matches all ended with the same result 1-0; Ismaili over Mehalla, Misri over Goldi, Mansoura over Aswan and Baladiyet Mehalla over Haras El-Hedoud. The leagues' standings this week remained unchanged, with Ahli still leading the standings with 27 points, followed by Inpi in second place with 20 points ahead of defending champions Ismaili on goal difference. Ismaili is placed in third. The week's victories, however, helped propel some teams to slight ranking movements. Baladiyet Mehalla moved to the fourth place with 17 points and Misri jumped to the fifth place with 16 points. The rest of the teams remained unmoved. Despite the end of Ramadan, it appeared as if the strikers were still fasting from scoring. 10 goals were scored in six matches, four of which came in one game; the Ahli- Tersana match achieving a percentage of 1.7 per game, the least in all weeks. The week's matches were described as those of 'one-game', since all goals scored in four matches came in the second half. The teams played lackluster first-half's, but somehow found their energies in the second half. The only team, probably, playing top- notch stuff in the first half, was Zamalek, in its African League route. And their chances seem high. A goal-less first-leg match against Morocco's Rajaa in Casablanca two weeks ago opened the chance and paved the way in front of the local team, who will be playing the second-leg and decisive match amidst fans at the Cairo stadium tomorrow. Since their return from Casablanca and two days off, the team has undergone intensive training at a specially designed camp, and some friendly matches under the supervision of Brazilian head coach Capral in preparation for the final tomorrow. Zamalek has won the title four times before and hopes to add one more title, to become the team with the most African titles. Given their recently displays of play, the seventh win will probably be coming after all.
