Ahli's youngsters inspired their team to a thrilling comeback victory, reports Ahmed Morsy In an exciting clash in the 17th week of the Egyptian domestic league, Ahli's new faces came off the bench to bring their team from behind and claim a 4-2 victory over a brave Police Union side. Ahli's Afrotto could not have hoped for a better debut with the big boys after being fielded as a substitute, scoring two goals. The U20 national team playmaker was also felled in the area to win a penalty. Ahmed Shoukri, another Ahli lad, also came on as a second-half substitute, notching the go-ahead goal. Due to injuries, Ahli had to do without the likes of Mohamed Abu Treika, Gilberto, Sayed Moawad, Francis Doe and Emad Meteb as well as Wa'el Gomaa who was suspended. Title holders Ahli struggled to break down Police's resolute defence in the first half, lacking the pace and creativity needed if they sought to exasperate the opposing side. Ahli strikers Hani El-Egeizi and Osama Hosni were lethargic, making it easy for Police defenders to keep them at bay. Nine minutes following the restart, Police pressure helped them break the deadlock when Reda El-Azab notched home on the rebound after Ahli keeper Ahmed Adel could only parry a shot into his path. To lend some badly needed support to his team, Ahli coach Hossam El-Badri introduced striker Ahmed Belal, Afrotto and Shoukri to add impetus in the second half as Police sat back to defend their lead. In the 63rd minute, the substitutions began to pay off when Afrotto curled a superb free kick with his left foot past Police keeper Ahmed Saad to level the score. In the 76th minute, Shoukri gave Ahli the lead when he cut inside his marker on the right flank of the area and sent a weak shot that Saad failed to deal with properly. Defender Mohamed Samir converted a penalty on 85 minutes after a surging run from Afrotto left Police's Mohamed Hanafi with no choice but to pull him down. However, Police Union were handed a lifeline via an oddity goal from Hassan Gomaa two minutes from time. Gomaa narrowed the gap when his attempted cross from a free kick evaded all everybody, including Adel, sneaking in at the far post. A few moments later, though, the diminutive 20-year-old Afrotto ensured Ahli's win when he latched onto a through pass to kill off Police's hopes as he struck home from close range. Ahli fans chanted Afrotto's name towards the end as a depleted Ahli made up for their 2-0 defeat to Spinning Mehalla last week, their first loss this season. Owing to the win, Ahli maintained their lead of the league table with 38 points, seven points ahead of second place Ismaili who have one game in hand. Police Union remained seventh with 23 points. "In the first half we weren't effective on the attack against the tight marking of Police, but the substitutions made the difference after the break, ," El-Badri said after the game. "I expected that Afrotto would make a big impact." "The spirit of youth was really needed. That's why I chose to play Afrotto and Shoukri in the second half. I have faith in them especially in their ability to penetrate the opposition's defence. "Injuries still pose a problem for us. We are losing many key players," El-Badri added. Ismaili had their game against Enppi rescheduled because of their African Champions League commitments. Zamalek's game with third-placed Petrojet was also postponed as the latter began their African Confederation Cup campaign. Elsewhere, on the same day, the Arab Contractors ended Ittihad's 10-game unbeaten run with an emphatic 4-1 come from behind victory. The Contractors victory, their first in four games, put them ninth in the league table on 22 points while Alexandria- based Ittihad, who are enjoying a fine run following the arrival of Brazilian coach Carlos Cabral, slipped to eighth with 23 points. There was some good news for Ittihad before the game after the Egyptian FA ruled in their favour in the contractual dispute with Zamalek over who owns the right to Egypt forward Mohamed 'Geddo' Nagi. Geddo, who was the surprise top goalscorer of the recently concluded Africa Cup of Nations in Angola which Egypt won, had reportedly signed with Zamalek while still an Ittihad player. Misri secured their second successive win under new coach Theo Buecker after defeating Spinning Mehalla 1-0 at home. In other news, former Zamalek defender Ashraf Qasem was named Mansoura's fourth coach this season. Qasem was appointed following the sudden resignation of Adel Teima. Mansoura began the season with Mohamed Helmi, who steered them to league promotion but later resigned for personal reasons. Mohamed Salah then took over but his spell was short-lived, stepping down following differences with chairman Ibrahim Megahed. His successor Teima followed in Salah's footsteps a few months later, leaving Mansoura tumbling down the table.
