Zamalek gave head coach Henri Michel the sack while Ahli claimed their fifth successive win to open up a six-point lead in the Egyptian domestic league, Ahmed Morsy reports Immediately following Zamalek's 2-0 loss to Police Union in the league on Sunday, Zamalek gave French head coach Henri Michel the boot, replacing him with former Zamalek superstar striker Hossam Hassan, chosen the best African footballer in the last 50 years. The French tactician said his "incessant attempts" to turn Zamalek's fortunes around had been doomed to failure. "Zamalek's decision to fire me was not in my hands. I would not have offered to resign as long as the decision belongs to the board of directors," Michel said in the post-match press conference. "Zamalek has problems bigger than football and I wasn't able to know the reasons behind the problems to continue with the team. We were facing the same problems in each match. We control the game and get a number of scoring chances but we always fail to translate our dominance into goals. "My incessant attempts to improve Zamalek were to no avail," the former Ivory Coast boss added. Zamalek are in 10th place with only 11 points out of 10 games. Michel, who took charge of France, Cameroon and Morocco throughout his career, had a first stint at Zamalek two years ago. Zamalek, who last won the league title in 2004, notably improved under his guidance in the second half of the 2006/2007 season. They were on the verge of winning the Egyptian Cup but suffered a dramatic 4-3 defeat to arch-rivals Ahli after extra time in the competition's final. A few months later, Zamalek were holding their pre-season training camp in France when Michel suddenly left them without warning. During Zamalek's match against Police Union, Zamalek duo Shikabala and Hazem Emam burst into tears after they were jeered by their own fans when the team were down by two goals. Minusu Buba and Samuel Kyere scored on 22 and 71 minutes respectively to give the home side a deserved win over the bedridden Cairo giants. Shortly after the second goal, Zamalek's spectators booed off their own players, which cause Shikabala and Emam to shed tears. Their teammates tried to comfort them. Zamalek's loss to Police was their fifth this season. Police lie seventh with 12 points. Hassan, who at one time coached Misri, is one of the leading player's of all-time in international games played, with over 170 caps. Ahli extended their winning streak to five games after beating the Arab Contractors 1-0 on Sunday, to stay six points clear of second place Petrojet on top of the Egyptian domestic league table. Leaders Ahli are now on 26 points, while Contractors remain 9th with 11. The game witnessed a blistering start, with both sides eager to open the scoring. One minute past the quarter-hour mark, Mohamed Fadl headed Gilberto's corner-kick off the crossbar and into the goal to set the game alight. Contractors' Ehab El-Masri could have restored parity when he went one- on-one with goalkeeper Ahmed Adel, but his shot went well wide of the mark. One minute past the hour mark, Egypt skipper Ahmed Hassan doubled Ahli's lead when his powerful shot squirmed between the goalie's legs. The Red Devils took a stranglehold on the game after securing a two-goal advantage, with the visitors losing fluency and concentration. Ahli suffered a host of casualties before the game. Mohamed Abu Treika, Moataz Eno, Emad Meteb, Hani El-Egeizi and Ahmed Bilal were all out injured. Nevertheless, Mohamed Barakat and Sherif Abdel-Fadil boosted Ahli against Arab Contractors after the duo missed last week's win at Petrojet with respective injuries after returning from international duty with Egypt. Elsewhere, Ismaili clinched a hard-fought 1-0 win at Spinning Mehalla to stay in third place, while Petrojet failed to make up ground despite beating Misri by the same score line. Ittihad recorded their third victory under Brazilian Carlos Cabral by defeating Haras Al-Hedoud 1-0 away in Alexandria. Military Production beat Al-Gouna 2-0 to move up to fifth spot with 15 points, while Al-Gaish beat Mansoura 3-1 to secure fourth place. Earlier on Sunday, Enppi were held to a 1-1 draw at minnows Assiout Petroleum.
